They're Here! The GEM Girlz Have Arrived!
by Heavens-Angel96
Summary: The Chipettes learn that they are reincarnations of three beautiful princesses that can manipulate the Elements. Will they be able to handle the pressure and changes that come with it? Read and Find Out! First Story! *currently on hiatus*
1. Prologue

**Hola, senors, senoritas, and so on. My first story - whoo! I can barely hold in the excitement! So, tell me what you think, whether you love it or hate it, and if I feel like it, I'll post Chapter 1, ok? Awesome! LET'S GET STARTED!**

**Prologue**

"Wake up, miss!"

"Mmmm…"

"Wake up, Princess Bliss, wake up! It's tine for your coronation."

"Just five more minutes…"

"Princess Bliss, get up! Or else I will have your father come up to get you!" the maid, Rebeka, insisted.

Bliss reluctantly got out of bed, but only because she didn't want her father to find her sleeping in on the best day of her life. "Fine, I'm up, I'm up. Hast my sisters awoken from slumber yet?"

"Ay, they are bathing and dressing now."

"Then why am I the last to wake up?" Bliss asked.

"Your gown wasn't ready yet," the maid answered, bowing.

Bliss rolled her eyes, but thanked the maid. She hoped, for Rebeka's sake, that the gown was dyed pink.

After bathing and dressing, Bliss walked out of her chamber ad strolled through the long corridors, leading to the grand ballroom, where the ceremony was taking place. She thought about the amazing days she had spent here at the Grand Gem Palace, how she had grown so much, playing pranks on the guards and maids, sneaking off with her sisters to play on the beach or go to Earth to visit those cute knights…

And now she was turning eighteen, along with both her sisters, and dedicating her life to a kingdom that was practically falling to her command. She wasn't really ready to die for her kingdom yet… not when she hadn't really picked out a husband to die for yet.

Turning eighteen sucked.

"Good morning, Sister!"

Bliss was snapped out of her thoughts and whirled around to find her youngest sister, Elegance, chewing an apple. "Oh, good morning, Elegance. How are you this fine morning?"

She shrugged. "Kind of nervous. You?"

Bliss sighed. "I don't know what to think. I'm practically scared out of my mind. Do you know this is the first time we'll be separated?"

Elegance nodded. "I know how you feel. So does Justice. But we have to be brave about this, at least for the kingdom's sake, okay?"

Bliss nodded, relieved. "Right."

Elegance smiled and threw the apple core over her shoulder. It landed in the middle of the courtyard.

"Elegance!"

"No worries, Older Sis. I'll just recycle it." Elegance pulled a wooden flute from her belt and began to play a tune. The tall grasses pulled the core into the ground, and in seconds, a small tree appeared in its place.

Bliss just shook her head. "I'll never understand why you won't dispose of that in the first place."

Elegance shrugged, and then went to go find Justice. The coronation would be starting soon.

Justice sat on her balcony and watched the guests come into the palace entrance that night. The one person she wanted to be here wasn't here yet. She pulled a little blue ceramic box out of her gown pocket, took her necklace off, and skid the key pendant into the hole of the box. After winding it up, the box slowly opened and played a slow, sad tune. She smiled at the music.

I hope he gets here…

"Justice!"

The sudden outburst made Justice nearly drop the little box over the balcony. She turned. "E-Elegance! What are you doing up here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Elegance answered, hands on her hips.

Justice responded by looking sadly at the box in her hands.

Elegance noticed this and crossed over to pat her hand gently. "He'll come."

"But what if he doesn't?" Justice asked, her eyes becoming glassy.

Elegance smiled. "He'll come. I know he will."

"Really?" Justice wondered.

Elegance nodded.

Justice smiled and hugged her younger sister. "Thank you."

"No problem," Elegance replied, hugging back. "Now, let's spend our last days together in style!" She took Justice's hand and led her toward the ballroom. Justice followed, giggling.

Little did these princesses know, their world was going to come crashing down soon.

"Alpha-142, this is agent Star, code number 144-3256. Do you respond?"

"Agent Star, have you located the Gem Crystals?"

"Yes, my Queen. They are in the ballroom, ready to become the legendary White Diamond."

"Excellent. How did you receive access to the castle?"

"I stole the negative energy of a maid, code name: Rebeka, and posed as her for a few days to receive information. The coronation is about to start, my Queen."

"Everything is going according to plan, then. Send in other troops. Those humans won't know what hit them. That Diamond will be mine."

**Ok, I know it starts off kinda slow, but it'll get better with time. Trust me. SEND ME REVIEWS IF YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE. FIRST 5 REVIEWS RECEIVE PIE! :)**


	2. Late

**Thank you for the reviews! Keep em coming, 'cause I'm just getting started! Now we're back in the present day, where our heroines face their first challenge: mornings. Enjoy the story - and your pie!**

**Late  
**

Brittany woke with a start. She rubbed her forehead and groaned. _What kind of bizarre nightmare was that?_ She pondered the thought until her bedroom door peeked open.

"Rise and shine, Brittany," a quiet voice murmured from behind the door. "Wake up." The door flung open, and light from the hallway poured in, temporarily blinding Brittany.

"Ack! Geez. Blind me, why don't you?"

"Sorry, Britt," Jeanette said, creeping into the room. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, I'm awake now," Brittany responded, rubbing her dilated pupils. She yawned, then got out of bed. "Sorry I'm sleeping in so late."

"What happened to the alarm clock I bought you last week?" Jeanette asked, watching her elder yet shorter sister cross over to her adjoining bathroom.

"I broke it Saturday," Brittany replied casually as she closed the door behind her.

Jeanette stared at the door. "How did you break it?"

"I'm not sure," Brittany replied through the door, "but when I woke up that morning, it was in pieces. I think it had something to do with the nightmares I've been having abut some princess or whatever."

"Hmm… interesting," Jeanette said.

Oh, well. That clock never helped me anyway. I'm still late for everything." Brittany opened the door a little to throw her t-shirt on the floor.

Jeanette sighed. "Well, you never want to get up for anything, so I guess it doesn't really make a difference."

"Yeah, that too."

Without warning, something pink flew at Jeanette's face. She peeled the object off her face and shrieked, dropping it in horror. "Brittany! Was that really necessary?"

"Come on, it's not that bad," Brittany replied. The water was running for a shower.

"It's gross!" Jeanette squealed, her cheeks turning red.

"Please, Jeanette! Do you know how much my pair of underwear would sell for on eBay? Some desperate loser would be lucky to have that!"

Jeanette stared at the panties on the floor in disgust, thinking what person would possibly want to pay money for them. Though it wasn't impossible…

"Hey, Jeanette?"

Jeanette looked up at the door. "Yeah?"

"Can you hand me my clothes so we can go?"

She cringed, but grabbed one of the white blouses and green plaid skirts. She also reluctantly picked some underclothes, too, just in case.

"Good morning, girls," Miss Miller greeted the two eldest Chipettes as they came down the stairs, properly dressed in their private-school uniforms.

"Morning, Miss Miller," they replied, sliding into two chairs surrounding the kitchen island and helping themselves to freshly made blueberry muffins, courtesy of Eleanor Miller, the youngest Chipette of the group.

"Where's Eleanor?" Brittany asked, taking a bite of muffin.

"She was here a second ago…"

"Good morning, girls!" a cheery voice exclaimed from behind them.

"Hey, El," the two girls said.

"Here's the mail, Miss Miller," Eleanor placed the mail on the counter, then picked up a muffin and bit into it. "We should probably get going, guys, school starts in, like, an hour."

"Right," Jeanette agreed, sliding off her chair and polishing off her muffin. "See you later, Miss Miller…"

"Wait, girls!" Miss Miller stopped them, pulling out her digital camera. "I want to take pictures of you before you go to school."

Miss Miller dragged the three girls to the living room, positioning and repositioning them until they were tired of smiling.

"Miss Miller, I don't really understand why you're doing this," Jeanette told her.

"My cheeks are cramping," Eleanor complained through her forced smile.

"Mine, too," Brittany mumbled through gritted teeth.

"just one more picture, and then you girls are off to your first day of school," Miss Miller promised.

The girls looked at one another in confusion.

"Miss Miller, our first dat of school was two months ago," Eleanor pointed out.

"don't be silly, girls," Miss Miller laughed. "today is August 17."

Jeanette shook her head. "today is October 17, miss miller."

"no, today is August 17, I know it…"

Jeanette took out her phone and displayed the date on it, showing it to Miss Miller. "see? Today is October 17."

Miss Miller adjusted the reading glasses on her face, disappointed. "oh. Well, then, why does my wall calendar say August? You can't always trust newfangled objects like phones, Jeanette."

Brittany observed the calendar on the wall. "Miss Miller, you haven't changed the calendar since august. That's why your dates are off." She ripped the months of August and September off the calendar.

Miss Miller looked around, flustered. "oh. I guess I'll see you girls when you get home, then. Have a good day today, okay?"

"Okay!" They said cheerfully, then grabbed their backpacks and headed out the door to escape the awkward silence.

"Could Miss Miller be any slower?" Brittany aske as they walked down the sidewalk.

"I think it's because of old age," Eleanor commented. "the elderly forget lots of things."

"Maybe," Jeanette said thoughtfully. She let her thoughts wander off into the bluish-yellow clouds the sunrise left behind, and her eyes wandered to the clock tower on the village hall.

7:50.

Jeanette gasped. "You guys, let's get going! School starts in forty minutes!"

Her sisters gasped as well.

"It takes about another half-hour to go this way," Eleanor said. "_If _there isn't traffic on the main road, that is."

"I know a shortcut through town we could take," Brittany said quickly.

"Well, what are you waiting for, a bus?" Jeanette asked. "Lead the way, Britt!"

And the three girls rushed down the street.

**And... scene! So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Receive your piece of pie NOW!**


	3. Lucky Star Pawn Shop

**Next chapter coming at you! *throws chapter* Hope you love it!**

**Lucky Star Pawn Shop  
**

"Dude, we're lost."

Brittany scoffed. "Puh-leeze, Eleanor. It's just a shortcut to school."

Jeanette rolled her eyes. "Britt, I know we've been having some trouble getting to school lately, but Eleanor's right. We're lost."

"We're not lost," Brittany insisted. "I know exactly where we are."

"Dude, we're somewhere in Chinatown, and you don't have a clue as to how we get back." Eleanor pulled out a pack of cinnamon gum and popped one in her mouth. She offered to the girls. Brittany took one and began chewing vigorously, the spicy taste sharpening her senses and clearing her mind and her nerves. Jeanette kindly refused, taking to biting her purple-polished nails.

"Why don't we stop and ask for directions?" Eleanor suggested, noticing a group of Chinese kids near a restaurant.

"Why don't we just keep going?" shy Jeanette muttered, walking up the road.

"It'll be just a second," Eleanor told her sisters, running up to the kids and cheerily chatting away. They didn't seem to comprehend her, because they kept giving each other confused and strange looks. Once the blond Chipette was done talking, they shrugged and trotted away, giggling to each other in Chinese.

Eleanor came back, dejected. "Guess they don't really speak English."

"What was you first clue?" Brittany asked sarcastically. "The fact that they looked at you like an alien, or the fact that they ran off to giggle about it to their friends?"

Eleanor glared at her and opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped by Jeanette, who put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Come on, you guys, let's find directions and get out of here. Something about this place creeps me out."

Her sisters were quick to agree, and followed her.

They walked further down the street, and something made Eleanor stop in her tracks and stare. Jeanette didn't realize this, and kept walking. However, Brittany bumped into her younger sister by accident.

"Hey! Watch it!" Brittany shouted. She noticed that Eleanor wasn't moving. She waved a hand in front of her face. "Hellooo? Wake up, Ellie! Come back to Earth, why don't ya."

Eleanor said nothing, but only pointed a finger at the shop in front of them.

Brittany looked up at the sign. It read: Lucky Star Pawn Shop, Where All Dreams and Fortunes Come True.

"What a load of bull – " Brittany started, but was interrupted by a ringing of wind chimes and a disappearing silhouette of her sister.

"Eleanor! Get out of there! Jeanette will be back for us sometime soon!" when she didn't answer, Brittany went in, yelling, "Hey, El, wait for me!"

"Thank you very much, sir," Jeanette said politely to the police officer that had written down directions to get to the main street. She opened the door of the police station, stepping into the sunshine, and put the directions in her skirt pocket.

_Where did Brittany and Eleanor go?_

Jeanette wandered down the street she had come down and looked around. They weren't around here… She began to look into the stores, but hardly any of them were open yet.

Then she noticed the Chinese pawn shop.

She read the name: Lucky Star Pawn Shop. She looked inside and saw her sisters there, picking things up and putting things down. Jeanette opened the door and stormed inside, hoping to drag them out before the first bell rang for homeroom. The red decorations, flags, banners, and sign all turned blue when she stepped in, but she didn't seem to notice.

"What took you so long?" Brittany asked when her little sister sidled next to them.

"Why are you two in a pawn shop when we're in a serious time crunch?" Jeanette hissed. "You know we have to get to school, or else the police will be looking for us!"

"Sorry," Eleanor said, looking up from a jewel-encrusted chest. "This stuff is awesome, isn't t?"

Jeanette looked around for the first time. It was actually pretty cool. The walls were covered in yellow wallpaper that had Chinese symbols on it. She recognized a few on them, but couldn't really understand them well. There were tons of antiques-most of them red and gold. The paper dragons that were hanging from the ceiling were several different colors, and the vases were beautiful. Noticing all these little details made Jeanette smile for the first time that day.

"Ooh, pretty dragon!" Eleanor squealed, rubbing a statue of a golden dragon that was on the front desk.

"That dragon, young lady, is very valuable."

Eleanor jumped in surprise to find a woman, about in her mid-30s, with waist-long jet-black hair and and exasperated expression on her face, as if she's had to tell this a thousand times each day to everybody.

"Miss, this store has very delicate pieces, and unless you plan to buy them, you and your friends should leave." She narrowed her eyes at Eleanor, who backed away toward the door, stammering. "B-but… It was just… I…"

"Leave the poor girls alone, Han-Li." Everyone turned to find an older Chinese woman, who looked very similar to the younger woman. Her black hair was in a bun, with wisps of it framing her round face. She wasn't nearly as tall, either, as she came head-to-head with Eleanor. The woman also had a kind expression that contrasted the taller woman's cold and distant demeanor.

"Don't worry about the statue, girls," the older woman spoke, smiling at them. "If you rub the golden dragon, it is supposed to be good luck."

"But that dragon cost us-" the younger woman spoke, but the older woman held up a hand, silencing her.

"You're such a worrywart, Han-Li," the older woman said. To the Chipettes, she said, "Please excuse my daughter. She goes into a panic attack whenever any of her little trinkets are being touched."

"I do not!" Han-Li shouted from behind the desk.

Her mother ignored her. "Besides, you three look like wonderful, polite girls."

Eleanor giggled, "Thank you. You're really nice."

"My name is Ling Cheng. How about a fortune reading for your troubles?" the woman asked.

Han-Li rolled her eyes from behind the desk. "Mom, they don't want to hear some tired fortune. They should be in school."

"School! I totally forgot! We have to go!" Jeanette rushed to the door.

"It'll only take a second, miss," Mrs. Cheng soothed. "And it's free."

"How can you pass up an offer like that?" Eleanor asked Jeanette. "Can we? Please?"

"Maybe we'll come back after school and-"

"Pleeeeeeease?" Eleanor widened her eyes and pouted for emphasis.

Jeanette began to waver. "Well… I guess… a fortune wouldn't be too bad…"

Eleanor smiled and went back to Mrs. Cheng, who examined her palm.

Han-Li shook her head disapprovingly behind a copy of _People._

"Let's see… what will be in store for you, little one?" Mrs. Cheng asked, tracing the lines on Eleanor's palm.

"It tickles!" Eleanor laughed.

After a minute, the woman spoke, "I can tell from the moment I met you that you are a very bubbly, outgoing girl."

"Why, thank you."

"But, be careful, little one," Han-Li's mother warned. "There is a time to have fun and a time to be serious. Learn the difference, and you will succeed."

"Ummm, ok," Eleanor said, confused.

The woman turned to Brittany and Jeanette. "Would you two like to have your fortunes read as well?"

"No, thanks," Brittany said bluntly.

"That's really nice of you, but we really have to go now, so…"

"Hey!" Brittany screamed, pulling her hand from Mrs. Cheng. "Hands off, you old broad!"

"Who you callin' an old broad?" Mrs. Cheng cried, hands on her hips.

"You, you hag!" Brittany retorted.

"Brittany!" her sisters shouted, glowering at her.

"I'm so sorry," Jeanette said quickly. "Please forgive us. She's not usually like this…"

She stopped when she realized that the old woman was laughing.

"Umm…are you ok?" Eleanor asked.

"I'm fine, my dear," Mrs. Cheng replied. "And don't worry about her. Your sister reminds me of when I was raising Han-Li in China. You girls remind me of my childhood."

"Uh, thanks?" Brittany said, fingering one of the paper dragons.

"Ah, you are a fiery one. I can tell. May I see your palm?

Brittany reluctantly held out her hand.

The woman nodded grimly. "Do not take your powers for granted, young lady. They might lead you into severe trouble that makes your power useless in battle."

Brittany raised an eyebrow. "Great. Thanks for the tip."

Han-Li's mother turned to Jeanette. "Would you like to have your fortune read as well?"

Jeanette shrugged. "Why not?" She held out her palm obediently.

Mrs. Cheng examined it. "Ah. You are a smart, sweet girl. But you are not very self-confident. Correct?"

"I guess…" Jeanette looked away sadly. Eleanor patted her shoulder in comfort.

"Don't be so sad, dear. I see great things in your future." Mrs. Cheng smiled.

Jeanette's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Like what?"

"You're a great leader. You just don't know it yet," Mrs. Cheng stated. "But only when you learn how to use your full powers can you claim this title. Be very crafty when dealing with your enemies. They cam be tricky."

Jeanette nodded, still glowing at the part about her being a leader. "Th-thank you."

"Wait, how come she has such good advice?" Brittany asked. "She gets 'you're gonna be a good leader' and all I get is 'don't use up all your powers'?"

"Sorry, girls, that's all the fortunes I have for you," Mrs. Cheng said, going behind the counter and ducking underneath it. "But come back soon. I love having visitors."

"I think the word you mean is 'customers'," Han-Li muttered from behind her magazine.

Her mother looked up from behind the counter to glare at her. "Shut up, or their gifts are coming out of your paycheck."

"Ooh, I'm soooo scared," Han-Li deadpanned, flipping the page.

Mrs. Cheng rolled her eyes, then got up from behind the counter, something clutched in her fist.

"Yay! Presents!" Eleanor squealed, bouncing on her toes.

Mrs. Cheng strolled over to them and opened her fist to reveal three coin-shaped pendants with Chinese characters written on them.

"Wow, necklaces that I can't understand," Brittany commented.

"These are good luck charms," Mrs. Cheng explained. "You wear them around your necks, and the fortunes will eventually come true."

She picked up one necklace and gave it to Eleanor. "This one means 'luck'."

"Cool," Eleanor said, accepting the pendant and fastening it around her neck.

"This one means 'intelligence'." She handed one to Jeanette.

"Thank you," Jeanette said politely.

"And this one means 'beauty'." She held up the last one for Brittany.

"This necklace knows me so well," Brittany said excitedly.

"Use them well," Mrs. Cheng said.

"What do you mean by-"

The bell on the village hall chimed nine.

"Oh crap! We're so late!" Brittany grabbed her sisrers and pushed them toward the door.

"Nice meeting you guys!" Eleanor called over her shoulders as she pushed the door open.

As they watched the three girls rush down the street, Han-Li spoke up, "You shouldn't be involved in those girls' fate. They won't believe it… or you."

Ling Cheng chuckled mischievously. "Don't worry your little head about a thing. Their powers will kick in soon. All they need is a little push toward their fate."

**Cliffhanger! Now, I'm guessing you guys must be thinking the following questions: What does she mean by "powers"? How do these ladies know what's going to happen? How are they involved in this? Where the heck are those rascally Chipmunks? What's going to happen next? WHEN AM I GETTING MY SLICE OF PIE? All these questions and more will hopefully be answered in the next chapter... as long as you guys read and review!**


	4. Symbol

**Hey, my peeps! Sorry I haven't updated in a while; my brother has baseball games, I've been working on the chapters, and everything's just been totally hectic. Hopefully I can finish the next chapter and put it up soon. But for now, here's chapter 3!**

**Symbol**

Mrs. Collins wasn't a teacher that tolerated tardiness. She was one of those perfectionist teachers that wanted absolute silence in the room. The last time someone was late, she gave them a week of detention, even though it was only five seconds after the bell rang.

So imagine her surprise when the girls practically fell over themselves getting into the door thirty minutes late after the first bell.

"We're here!" they shouted, pushing themselves into the classroom. They suddenly felt 54 eyes staring at them.

"Uh, here's our pass," Jeanette said quietly, giving a blue tardy slip to the teacher.

"Hmm," Mrs. Collins hummed, examining the piece of paper thoroughly.

"It's paper, not a used Kleenex," Brittany said impatiently, crossing her arms.

Jeanette nervously clasped her hands behind her back and braced herself for her punishment.

"Just sit," Mrs. Collins groaned.

"It was an accident! We didn't mean to skip school, and I told them that we should get going, and we somehow got lost in Chinatown, and I just-" Jeanette stopped babbling in shock. "Wait. Did you say that we can sit down?"

"Yes," Mrs. Collins said.

"No detention or anything?"

Mrs. Collins cocked an eyebrow. "Do you want one, Miss Miller?"

Jeanette blushed. "No, thank you."

"I have a throbbing headache today, so please…" The teacher gestured toward their seats. "Go before I change my… Wait a minute. Did you just say you were skipping school?"

"Uh, no," Brittany said quickly. "There was a family emergency. It was really long and urgent. Well, we should head to our seats." Before Mrs. Collins could respond, the girls rushed to their seats, pulling out pens and paper and textbooks like good little girls.

Thankfully, the teacher didn't even bother to question them, and, with a suspicious glare towards them (and the rest of the class), went right back to teaching.

_Hmm_, Brittany thought, fingering her pendant, _this might be my good luck charm after all._

"Did you guys notice how out of it Mrs. Collins was?" Brittany said as they put their stuff into their lockers at lunch. "I heard that Mrs. Collins drank too much and has a serious hangover.

"Where did you hear that?" Jeanette asked, grabbing her lunch.

"From Muffy," Brittany told them, slamming her locker door shut and leaning on it. "Plus she told me that she can't wait to see me at the cheer tryouts. She's gonna help to convince the seniors that I've got the right stuff to be on the squad."

"Great," Eleanor said. "I hope you make the cheer squad, Britt."

"I hope so too. Otherwise, it's gonna be a long four years here." As soon as they were ready, the girls grabbed their stuff, Jeanette suddenly felt her feet sweep from underneath her, and she fell to the floor face first.

"Nice fall, Jeanette," a snide voice said.

Jeanette looked up to find Tara and her two friends Monique and Kelly gazing down on her, laughing. She felt her face burn with mortification.  
"Leave her alone," Brittany told them, but they just laughed their annoying little laughs.

"You're so pathetic, I swear," Monique laughed.

"You want a piece of me, M?" Brittany shouted, balling her fists.

"Bring it, B!" Monique mocked, smirking.

Brittany lunged forward, but Eleanor held her back. "Britt, we just got out of trouble with any of the slim luck we have. Fighting won't make things any better."

"You'd better listen to your sister, B," Tara said with fake sympathy. "The hippie knows what she's talking about."

"Hey! I'm not a hippie! I'm just short and sweet. Kinda like candy."

"Ew! Sugar and carbs? Gross!" Kelly squealed in her nasal voice.

"Not as gross as those huge zits on your chest," Brittany sneered. "Oh, wait, those are your tiny boobs. Sorry."

"Oh, that is _it_!" Monique and Brittany lunged at each other, only their friends holding them back by their shirts.

"Forget it, Mo, these girls are sooooo not worth it," Kelly muttered.

"Neither is that voice," Brittany said coldly. "No wonder you don't have a boyfriend, you sound like an annoying squeaky dog toy."

Kelly frowned. "Watch it, B, or else-"

"Or else what?" Eleanor stood in front of her sister defiantly, arms crossed.

"You don't wanna know what!" Tara added, staring the blond Chipette down.

And the six girls all started arguing and pushing into each other at once, insults and retorts flying. It might've gone on all day, if not for three people.

"What the hell's going on here?"

All six turned to three fifteen-year-old freshmen boys, and immediately succumbed to silence. They were gorgeously tanned, had perfect hair, and were five foot ten, at the very least.

Oh, and they were chipmunks.

"Simon!" Tara blushed, straightening her dirty blond braid. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"We were having lunch until we heard a bunch of yelling. What's going on?"

"They were bullying us!" Kelly whined, pointing to the Chipettes.

Alvin cocked an eyebrow. "Hardly true. They're way too nice to even hurt flies, much less bully the likes of you."

"But-" Monique started, but Tara silenced her.

"We should get going," Tara said flatly, pushing past the girls and walking to the cafeteria. She gave a hard glare to the Chipettes as she walked down the hallway. Her girls glanced at each other with confused looks, but soon followed their leader, gazing at Theodore and Alvin with affection as they passed.

"Wow, thy didn't throw a punch," Eleanor said in astonishment. Her fingers touched her necklace. "These things must be lucky after all."

Brittany looked over Alvin's shoulder at the retreating girls. "What was that for? we were totally handling that well without you three butting in."

"Well how come we just stopped a near riot that would've broken out between all of you?" Simon pointed out.

"He does have a point," Theodore said meekly.

Brittany rolled her eyes and pushed past them as well, stomping into the cafeteria.

"What's with Britt-zilla today?" Alvin asked.

"Well, we haven been having the best of days today," Eleanor admitted, twirling a strand of her long blonde pigtail around her finger.

Jeanette, who had been practically been silent since the beginning of the fight, nodded.

Simon cocked his head at her, then touched the pendant on her neck. "Nice pendant. The character means 'intelligence', right?"

Jeanette realized she was holding her breath, and exhaled, shyly saying, "Yeah. I got it in Chinatown."

"Cool," Simon said, smiling at her.

Jeanette felt the blood rush to her cheeks.

"Yeah, I noticed these necklaces," Alvin said, fingering the pendant around Eleanor's neck. She blushed. "What does this one mean, Simon?"

He looked at the Chinese writing. "It means 'luck'."

Alvin nodded thoughtfully. "It looks cool."

"What does the one Brittany have on mean?" Theodore piped up eagerly.

" 'Beauty', I think," Jeanette said.

"That definitely sounds like Brittany," Alvin muttered, putting his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

"She is pretty, isn't she?" Theodore sighed dreamily.

The other four gave each other knowing looks. Theodore has had a crush on Brittany since the seventh grade. Unfortunately, Brittany had too big an ego to acknowledge him.

That didn't stop him from trying, though.

"You know she doesn't notice you, right?" Alvin pointed out.

Theodore shrugged. "It won't stop me from trying."

The friends exchanged another set of glances.

"I heard you guys were a half-hour late to school today," Alvin gossiped. "What happened?"

Eleanor and Jeanette looked at each other indifferently.

"I'm guessing that it has something to do with your necklaces," Simon suggested.

Eleanor chuckled nervously. "It's kind of a long story."

"Why don't we talk about it over pie?" Theodore said, jerking his head toward the cafeteria. "I really want a slice."

Eleanor brightened at the sound of pie. "That sounds great!"

The five teenagers rushed to the cafeteria to claim their pie.

"Do you think that sounds weird?" Jeanette asked, finishing the story-and the piece of lemon meringue pie in front if her. "I mean, this lady knew us so well, and the fortunes seemed so real…"

"I say she's off her loon," Alvin commented, shoveling a forkful of key lime pie into his mouth. "If a random lady says that you're destined to do something great or whatever, is really nice to you, and gives you gifts that you don't even have to pay for, then she must be up to something."

"You said the same thing about that new mailman last week," Simon said flatly, staring into a piece of apple pie.

"He could've been delivering a bomb to our house. One must not joke about safety, Simon."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Anyway, maybe she just gave that same fortune to everybody. It's not uncommon for scam artists to do that, you know."

"But she's not a scam artist," Eleanor said defiantly, taking the last bite out lf her coconut cream pie. "She's not unfamiliar. She's really nice. And it feels like I know them from somewhere before…"

"People can read body language and can tell what you're like by how you present yourself. And, hello? You guys are famous! There must be millions of blogs and websites about you guys. They might have recognized you."

"Didn't seem like that, Si," Brittany said, checking her lip gloss in her compact mirror and barely touching the salad in front of her. She opted out of the pie (carbs, hello!). "The lady was weird, but it was like déjà vu or something. I felt like I personally knew her."

"Yeah, and if we didn't know her, then why did she wish us luck and give us these cool necklaces?" Eleanor added.

"Because, Eleanor, good luck is nonexistent," Simon hissed through gritted teeth, something he did when he got really annoyed. And boy, was he getting peeved. "There's no such thing as good or bad luck. There's no such thing as karma or anything like that. Those are just religious beliefs that aren't backed up by pure fact or logic. In no way are there such thing as good or bad fortunes. You have to make your own luck, not get it from some scam artist or a supposed lucky color or even those stupid fortunes in the fortune cookies. That's the only way to help you be successful in life. That's that. End of discussion."

The table was silent after Simon's outburst.

Jeanette spoke first. "Simon-"

Suddenly, Theodore rushed to the table, panting. "You guys, come quick!

"What is it, Theodore?" Alvin asked.

"Saw… ambulance… at… entrance," Theodore sputtered, breathing hard. "You'll never… guess… who… was carried off…"

"Mrs. Kesselring?" Simon asked carefully.

"Mr. Whitman?" Eleanor inquired hopefully.

"That weird lunch lady that never gives me tater tots?" Alvin questioned smugly.

"No," Theodore said, a strange look on his face.

"Well, then," Brittany said, a little more interested. "Who got sent to the hospital?"

"It's Mrs. Collins. Someone found her unconscious in her classroom."

Stunned, the six friends/siblings hurried to the front of the school, where sirens wailed, police lights flashed, and a pale and frail body was being taken away.

"What happened?" Jeanette asked, worry shadowing her face.

"I'm not sure," Theodore answered, watching the body being loaded onto the back of the ambulance. "When I was coming back, someone told me she wasn't feeling well all day."

"Maybe she's sick?" Eleanor reasoned.

Theodore shrugged. "I don't know, but whatever is wrong, it must be really bad."

Alvin leaned against the doorway. "I never really liked her, anyway. Who gives detention for eating a fruit cup in class, anyway?"

Brittany smirked. "Is that what you got in trouble for last week?"

He nodded. "She even gave me a Saturday detention for turning in my homework, like, two seconds after she collected it."

"That, or maybe she just doesn't like you," Brittany said.

Alvin shrugged. "Yeah. Maybe I should get homeschooling. Then teachers wouldn't have to hate me so much."

"That would be the greatest day of my life," Brittany sighed, going back inside.

It took him a moment to process what she was talking about. "Hey, wait a minute! Brittany!" Alvin followed her inside.

The others went back into the school. Everyone except Jeanette, who was staring at the ground at something

"Coming, Jeanette?" Simon asked, holding the door open.

"No, go ahead," Jeanette said faintly.

"Are you okay?" Simon said, putting a hand onto her shoulder.

Jeanette's heart beat faster at his touch. "I… I'll be there in a second."

Simon wavered for a moment, then went back inside, closing the door behind him.

Jeanette slowly crouched down, picked up a small piece of fabric that had fallen off the gurney. _This was part of the grey tweed suit Mrs. Collins had been wearing_, Jeanette realized. But that wasn't the thing that made her stop and stare. On the ripped tweed, there was a symbol: Δ.

Jeanette examined the symbol and realized it was the letter delta in the Greek alphabet. But why was it on her clothes? And why was it warm and glowing, like the symbol had been branded onto the fabric? Jeanette pocketed the fabric, not knowing why, but knowing that it somehow had something to do with her. She returned to class with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

**Hmm... things are getting interesting. What happens next? Only I know the answer. *grins evilly* Personally, though, this isn't my favorite chapter. Some of the dialogue is off, the scenes aren't really written well... and the fight scene could've been better. But review! I could use the constructive criticism. Well, I'm off to work on the next chapter. As Chad Dylan Cooper would say, "Peace out, suckas!" *flashes peace sign***


	5. Cheer Tryouts

**New chapter! Whoo-Hoo! And thank you for the reviews. It's nice to know that you care. :) Now, onto the story. Things are starting to get pretty weird around here. Starting with Brittany. But first, a little Simonette action.**

**Cheer Tryouts  
**

"See you later, Netta," Brittany said at her locker that afternoon. She grabbed her books and followed Eleanor to the locker rooms where they had to get changed for cheer tryouts and soccer practice.

"Bye, see you later," Jeanette called after her sisters, then slammed her locker door shut. She grabbed her books, bookbag, and sketchbook and walked to one of the entrances. While Jeanette walked, she began to draw in the sketchbook, expertly dodging people that were in her path-a multitasking skill she had mastered since the sixth grade.

But she didn't realize that a certain Chipmunk was also multitasking-aka reading a science magazine-as he walked as well, not paying attention to the people walking.

And both those forces collided in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh, my gosh!" Jeanette said, blushing as she mad eye contact with Simon's blue-grey eyes. "Simon! I'm so sorry, I-I didn't realize where I was going…"

"That's okay, neither was I," Simon confessed, chuckling and picking up his glasses off the floor.

_Wow, his eyes look even more amazing with his glasses off_, Jeanette thought, staring. She turned even redder when she realized how she was staring at him, and began to pick up the papers and books that fell out of her bag.

Simon started picking up papers and looked at them. "These are good."

Jeanette didn't notice at first. "Yeah, I've worked really hard on my grades so far."

"No, these drawings," Simon said, showing her the papers.

Jeanette turned purple with embarrassment as she snatched the papers away from him and stuffed them into her sketchbook. "They're not good! They're horrible. I don't even know why I even felt like drawing them. I can't do anything right. Ever. I can't even stop myself from tripping all over people in the hallway."

"Why do you always put yourself down, Jean?" Simon questioned. "Every time I see you, you're always beating yourself up about something. I'd give anything to have the artistic ability you have, even if it meant…not being as smart as I am now."

Jeanette looked into his eyes to tell if he was lying. He wasn't. "It'd probably be the other way around for me. You're really smart, Si."

Simon blushed. "Uh… thanks."

Jeanette smiled and grabbed the rest of the papers, handing Simon his and putting hers back into her bag.

"Well, I should probably get going-" Simon started.

"Would you like to go steady-er, study, with me in the lab?" the words left Jeanette's mouth before she could stop them. She couldn't stop her cheeks from flushing, either.

There was a moment of silence between them before a smile spread across his face and he said, "I'd love to, Jeanette. As long as you give me drawing lessons."

Jeanette laughed. "Sure. I'll try my best to teach you everything I know."

The two kept talking as they walked down the hallway together toward the science classrooms.

* * *

"Okay, girls, let's hear it again for Number Seven!" Muffy cheered, leading the girls into a polite applause. Obviously the girl needed to work on her form.

_ Her moves are off, her flips are awkward, her cheers sound like crap, and, seriously, has she heard of shaving cream and disposable razors? Someone might mistake her for a half-gorilla with her hairy legs. _But Brittany bit her tongue as she clapped halfheartedly at the hopeful freshman that looked ready to burst into tears as she sat back down. She stared at the number pinned to her chest. Number 8. Brittany was ready to burst out of her skin with anxiety. So far, the seven other hopefuls had attempted to conquer, but so far have been dissed, duped and dumped by the seniors. They tried everything, even interpretive dance, to try to impress their upperclassmen, but none have prevailed thus far.

_This is totally bogus,_ Brittany thought as she shifted on the hard wooden bleacher in the gymnasium. _Why would they have me try out for my coveted role when I'm obviously much more experienced than these hopeless amateurs? It doesn't make any sense. _Brittany's hand absentmindedly flew to her necklace and she rubbed her pendant charm. _Come on Chinese luck, work your magic…_

"Number Eight!"

"W-what?" Brittany asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Will you come up and show us what you've got already? I gotta leave at 4:30," a bored brunette muttered.

Brittany got up, dusted herself off, and strode up to the center of the gym dignifiedly, shoulders back, a look of confidence. Time to show these girls up…

Brittany threw them her biggest smile, clapped to the invisible beat, and chanted the following cheer:

"You might be the best,

And you might beat the rest

But we're the ones that'll kick you in the chest.

We scratch, we bite, and we fight with all our might

Cause we're the Knights!

Yeah, yeah, the Knights!

We'll fight till we get it right,

Cause we're the Knights!

Yeah, yeah, the Knights!

Break it down!" **(A/N Ok, that was a really lame cheer. It hurt to even write that. But I'm no cheerleader, so I guess we're stuck with it.)**

Brittany quickly ran up and entered a CD into the boom box on the table. After skipping to song number 5, she ran back and prepared for her moment.

Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" echoed through the gym, and Brittany launched into a flawless routine, gyrating her hips and backflipping in time to the music. She did cartwheels, roundoffs, and backflips, and ended her routine with a perfect split.

Just as she predicted, the girls stared at her, mouths agape. Then they slowly clapped, which mounted into thunderous applause.

Brittany could hardly hold back the smirk on her face. Muffy gave her big thumbs up and a grin.

Brittany winked back as she strutted back to her seat.

"Next, Number Nine!" Courtney, Muffy's friend, called.

Monique stood, gave Brittany a spiteful glare, and walked down the bleacher steps. Brittany hoped she fell and broke her pert little nose.

She didn't.

Instead of chanting the cheer all of them had to rehearse, Monique just sprinted into her routine, dancing to some energetic dance instrumental. Brittany gritted her teeth. She has amazing form, great backhand, and awesome moves. She's good. But why does it kind of look familiar…?

Then she realized it was the same routine the first girl had been doing. Only better and way more finished.

Sure, she hadn't been paying attention to the first five dancers, checking her makeup the whole time, but she glanced up every now and then to check out the competition. Now she knew for sure she had seen these moves on the first dancer. Even Number One was biting her lip to keep from crying. No one else said a word. Not even the seniors said anything.

Brittany's anger welled up inside of her. Why don't they say something? They know she's ripping off a routine, albeit a bad one, but still. It's just not fair.

And before she could let it pass, Brittany blurted, "SHE STOLE A ROUTINE!"

Everyone stared at her in shock.

Brittany blushed, but it was too late to go back now. She got up from her seat and stormed to the judging table, whispering, "You do know that she stole that routine, don't you?"

"Brittany-" Muffy started, but she was cut off by the brunette.

"Um, excuse me, but we're kind of in the middle of judging someone right now, so if you don't mind going back to your seat-"

"Are you blind?" Brittany asked. "The first girl that came up here did that routine first. Shouldn't she be disqualified or something?"

The brunette leaned into her. "Look, I'm not one to judge people here. If she wants to do a similar routine, let her. She won't be judged on what routine she has, as long as she can do a cartwheel and look good doing it. Got it?"

"Fine, but-"

"Look, just because you had the best routine thus far, you can't go around saying whose routine is whose. Do you want to be disqualified?"

Brittany didn't say anything.

"Then I suggest you go back to your seat before I get really mad," the brunette sneered.

Brittany glared at the girl, then went back to her seat, unsatisfied. Monique smiled smugly at her. Brittany resisted the urge to shove her foot in that stupid grin. As he sat back down, angry thoughts bounced around in her head. And the more she thought them, the angrier she got. _Why do they have to take_ her _side?_ I'm_ the one that's right. That_ _wasn't even in the spirit of an "original cheer." And what about that total B, Monique? She's so stupid! Why should she have the last laugh? I had the best routine out of all of them. They should be_ worshipping _me!_

And something in her eyes sparked… like fire.

"AHHHH!" the seniors screamed, sprinting as fast as they could from the burning table. But Brittany's eyes darted from the table to a screaming, curly-haired girl running to the entrance for her life. She immediately felt the sparks beneath her eyes again, and the girl spontaneously burst into flames.

Monique screamed, cursing and rolling around on the floor to put out the fire burning all over her.

Brittany grinned at her rival's frustration. Revenge is bittersweet…

But then she realized what she was doing, and when she blinked, reality sank in. The sparks in her eyes were gone, the girls were still in the gym…

And the gym was still on fire.

Brittany blinked, trying to shake the images out of her head, but she couldn't. The images were real now… young girls rushing around like crazy people, small bonfires scorching the first-place banners that hung on the walls, seniors trying to calm down the freshman without getting their hair scorched, and Monique, who was still rolling around in panic even though the fire that was on her had been long gone.

How did this happen? Brittany thought. I was only dreaming this… or, maybe…did I do this?

The fire sprinklers came on, drenching all the girls in the gym. Brittany, despite hating her hair being wet, saw this as her chance to escape, so she slipped out of the gym in record time while the other girls wailed about their ruined her hair and makeup.

Normally, Brittany would be in there complaining with them, but too many questions popped into her head as she wrung out her auburn hair. _No. No way. That stupid fortune couldn't have come true. Not so soon, anyways. But, maybe, if it wasn't_ _that, then what else_ could _it be?_

**Now we're getting to the good parts! See? Did I not tell you that it would get better? I think I did. OK, I really need to work on the next chapter now. I'm really behind. Catch y'all later!**


	6. Soccer Practice

**Yo, guys. I'm ba-aaack! ****Found internet in Ohio!**** And I brought my next completed chapter with me. Enough chitchat! Time for some Eleanor action!  
**

**Soccer Practice**

Eleanor adjusted her shin guards as she sat on the bleachers outside. The scent of the fresh cut grass was overwhelming. The heat of the afternoon sun beamed down on her like a spotlight. The coarseness of her baggy soccer shorts was itchy and stiff.

And she loved it all.

The aroma of the grass helped her concentrate. The heat mad her vision focused on her goal. And the shorts? The discomfort was just another reason to keep her moving.

But she couldn't enjoy all of it if she wasn't on the field.

Eleanor was one of the best players on the field. She deserved to be on that field, playing with all the other good players. And she could never stay still, either. Her energy was like a kid obsessed with sugar. She couldn't stay in one place too long, and she got antsy when she did.

Eleanor tapped her cleats on the grass. She tied and retied her pigtails, tied and retied her shoes, zipped and unzipped her duffel bag. How could she be one of the substitutes when she should be on that soccer field? It just didn't make sense.

"Hey, El," a male voice said, bringing her back to reality.

She looked up and smiled. "Hi, Alvin. Heading to football practice?"

"Yeah." He looked to the soccer field. "How come you're not on that field?"

Eleanor shrugged. "I'm a substitute today."

"You're way better at soccer than those girls," Alvin stated.

"You think so?" Eleanor asked.

Alvin smirked. "If you can kick _my _ass across that field, I'm sure you can do it to three, maybe four other girls.

Eleanor smiled. "Thanks, Alvin. I could use the support."

Alvin ruffled her hair. "No problem. Glad I could help. I gotta get to practice. See ya."

Eleanor waved as he walked away.

Alvin called over his shoulder, "Oh, and I want a rematch from our last game!"

Eleanor smirked, laughing. "You're on!"

As soon as he left, her friend and teammate, Charlie, said, "OMG! He was totally checking you out!"

Eleanor chuckled at her blue-eyed brunette companion. "Please. He was just giving me words of encouragement."

"Sounds line he wants to do more than just 'encourage' you…" Charlie mused playfully.

Eleanor found herself blushing and giggling madly. "Shut up! He's just a friend. Promise."

Charlie smirked. "Uh-huh. I'll believe that."

"Hey, Ellie!" Eleanor's other friend, Coco, called out to her. "Coach wants you on the field. You're my replacement."

Eleanor brightened at the chance. "Cool. Thanks, Coco." She ran onto the field, finally relieved to be moving again.

"Miller, you're on Spencer's team," Coach Ryder directed, pointing to left forward next to Spencer, who was center.

Eleanor trotted to the spot happily, grabbing a blue jersey and prepared to destroy the opposing team.

"You ready to crush, Miller?" Spencer, who was a sophomore, asked her.

"Bring 'em on," Eleanor said with a grin. She heard someone whistle behind her, and noticed Alvin waving at her from the football field. Eleanor waved back.

Kelly, who was left forward on the opposite team, curled her lip at her.

Eleanor rolled her eyes and focused.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP! Coach's whistle blew and the ball was thrown into the playing field.

Spencer kicked the ball, dribbling it to the opposite team's goal. Her hazel eyes locked with Eleanor's, and she gave a slight nod. She kicked the ball underneath a red jersey's legs and the ball came to Eleanor. Eleanor foot-trapped it and dribbled it forward.

"GO, ELLIE!" her friends cheered from the sidelines.

Eleanor dodged two other red jerseys and passed the ball to Katie, who then passed it to Duffy, who passed it back to Eleanor. Eleanor kicked it to Spencer, who was near the goal, and the sophomore scored the first goal for the Blue Team.

The blue jerseys cheered, while the Red Team congratulated them on a job well done. Except for one angry little girl that sulked in the corner…

"Nice job, Miller," a sophomore named Anna said.

"You were awesome out there," Duffy said, grinning and panting.

"Not bad for a freshman," Spencer commented coolly.

Eleanor smiled. "Thanks. That was awesome."

Coach Ryder broke through the crowd and excused the girl, pulling her aside. "Miller, that was some pretty aggressive playing out there. Maybe I'll think about putting you on the permanent lineup with the other girls."

Eleanor's jaw dropped. "You think so?"

Coach smiled. "Yeah, maybe. If you prove to me that you're good enough to play, then maybe you'll be the first freshman on our team."

Eleanor grinned, furiously shaking the lady's hand. "Thank you so much, Coach. I totally appreciate this. I swear, I won't let you down."

"Right, just don't break my hand off first." Coach pried her hand away.

"Sorry," Eleanor said, beaming. "I'll practice as hard as I can."

"You'd better. Now get out there and show me you deserve it," Coach said, clapping the girl on the back.

Eleanor grinned, running back to her position on the field.

Kelly frowned at her, glaring.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

Kelly swiped the ball as soon as it was on the field and made a beeline for the goal. Eleanor rushed up to her and attempted stealing the ball. Kelly thrust her elbow into Eleanor's stomach, which made the blond girl fall onto the grass, holding her stomach in pain.

"FOUL!" the coach shouted, blowing her whistle. Eleanor's blue-jersey teammates hurried to her side. "Oh my God!" "Are you okay?" "She looks pale."

"Can you hear us? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Eleanor moaned, rubbing her stomach. Her vision was a little hazy, but she managed to say, "You guys, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"You sure?" Coach asked, concern crossing her face.

Eleanor nodded. "I'm fine, Coach."

Kelly's eyes narrowed in disdain.

"Alright, let's continue, shall we?" Coach blew her whistle again to signal the game.

Katie grabbed the ball, dribbling it down the field. She sidestepped one red jersey, but Anna swiped the ball from her, heading in the opposite direction. Spencer caught up to her and kept her pace right behind her. Eleanor ran alongside of her, keeping an eye on the ball in case she had to steal it back.

But someone tripped her, sending her flying into a puddle of mud.

The girls stopped and stared, but what they couldn't stop was their snickers. Even Coach Ryder started laughing.

Eleanor's cheeks burned. She was covered in head to toe with mud, and people were laughing at her. As she pulled herself off the ground, she noticed Kelly smirking at her. Eleanor glared at her, pulling the last pieces of dignity she had left together. If that girl wants to play dirty, she was going to give her playing dirty...

The coach blew the whistle, and the game kept going. Anna grabbed the ball this time, passing it to another red jersey, who passed it to Kelly. Kelly dribbled the ball up the field to the Blue Team's goal. Eleanor came up to her and tried to steal the ball from her. Kelly, however, was way too quick for her. Eleanor swept the ball from her, and went the opposite way. But Kelly quickly sped up to her and tried to throw her off her game by pushing her away. She tried to push her off, but it was to no avail.

Kelly gave her a final shove before sweeping the ball from under Eleanor's feet.

Eleanor's anger caused her to shove the girl down.

Coach blew her whistle-for the third time. "MILLER! OFF THE FIELD! NOW!"

Eleanor stomped off the field without complaint. She parked herself on the bench and half-listened to the speech Coach was giving her. Something about being a team player and not getting all bigheaded just because she was good. As Coach walked away after telling her to take a breather on the bench until the next game, Kelly smirked and stuck out her tongue, turning back to the game.

Eleanor resisted the urge to flip her off behind her back. Barely.

Her frustration flared at the girl. _Why can't she just back off? I haven't done anything to her. Yet. She's such a little…_

Suddenly, the whole team was screaming.

Eleanor noticed that half the field (and the players) was covered in moving vines. The vines grabbed girls, swinging them around, wrapping them up in their thick trunks, and coiling around the goals. The boys in the next field stared in shock and fear.

One particularly thick vine came toward the girls on the bench, straight at Eleanor. She jumped out of the way, and scrambled to the building, her friends in tow.

"What was that?" Charlie asked, wide eyed.

"I don't know, but it was pretty huge," Coco answered, retying her curly hair in two fluffy pigtails on her head. "You okay, El? You looked pretty freaked. I mean, I would've freaked, too, 'cause that thing was heading right towards you."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Eleanor panted, trying to slow her beating heart. "I just need to rest, is all." But she was wondering the same thing: _What _was_ that thing? Why was it coming towards _her_? And did she cause it?_ Whatever it was, it was pretty freaky.

**Whoo! Epic vines. And a little bit of Alvinor, too. So, if I'm including all of my couples in this story, then why didn't I include as much Theittany? Honesty, I don't know. Oh, well. REVIEW OR ELSE YOU DON'T LOVE ME AND I WILL CRY! JK! But I will be sad if you don't give me reviews.  
**


	7. Study Date?

**Yes! Finally finished. The moment you've all been waiting for... Jeanette's powers!**

**Study...Date?**

_I can't believe I'm all alone with him,_ Jeanette thought as the two worked together on their project for school. _This is a dream. It has to be. Somebody pinch me…_

Jeanette gave a sudden yelp that echoed throughout the empty science lab.

Simon looked up from his textbook. "Jeanette, are you okay?"

Blood rushed to her face. "Yep, totally fine. Just stubbed my foot is all."

Simon nodded contently and returned to reading.

_He is so cute,_ Jeanette thought as she rubbed her arm where her pinch mark was. _I_ _wish I could be as calm, cool, and collected as he is. I feel like a total loser even sitting next to him. Maybe I can find something I have in common with him…_

"Can you help me with this problem?" Jeanette blurted.

Simon looked up. "What?"

"I'm having trouble with this problem," Jeanette repeated, pointing to a math equation in her notebook. "Can you help me? Please?"

Simon smiled and leaned into her. "Well, it's a pretty simple quadratic equation. What you do here is…"

Jeanette stared at him, smiling dreamily. _He's so smart, and really nice. He looks so hot in his school uniform…maybe I can get the nerve to ask him out. And maybe we can talk, share a Coke, and kiss a little bit…_

"Jeanette?"

Jeanette blushed. "Wh-what?"

"The answer is four," Simon repeated, circling his answer. "Were you listening, Jeanette? And why are you red?"

This just made Jeanette blush even harder. "Ummm…"

Simon smiled. "You zoned out, didn't you?"

Jeanette could do nothing more than nod.

"Here, I'll explain again, and try to listen this time, okay?"

Jeanette nodded and tried to pay attention but her mind drifted to her thoughts. _He gave me a second chance! Does this mean that he might actually…like me? Oh, no. what's he saying? I should just nod and pretend that I'm listening._

"…And when you divide it by six, the answer is four." Simon put his pencil down.

Jeanette nodded like a bobblehead. "Yep. I totally get it now. Thanks."

Simon looked at her strangely before returning to his work.

_Man, he probably thinks I'm all weird now. I should be ashamed. Here he is, trying to help me, and all I can do is drown myself in thought. I'm so stupid._

Jeanette reached for her water on the lab table, but only succeeded in spilling the liquid all over the table.

"Jeanette!" Simon cried in surprise, picking up his soggy papers. The ink writing bled all over the paper.

"I can fix it!" Jeanette cried, trying to grab the damp papers from him. In the process, she tripped over her chair, knocking over Simon, their textbooks, and their notes onto the floor.

Simon glared at the clumsy Chipette.

Jeanette smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

Simon sighed and started picking pencils up and cleaning up the mess. Jeanette followed, grabbing different papers off the floor.

As they kept picking stuff up, they reached for the same pencil, and their fingers brushed against each other.

They looked up into each others' eyes, then looked away shyly. Simon muttered an excuse and went back to cleaning, trying to ignore the sudden touch. Jeanette, however, stole glances at her crush, wanting to say something to break the ice with him. And as she tried to keep her thoughts to the puddle their homework was drowning in, her thoughts went back to the smart Chipmunk next to her.

_Maybe I should just give him up…_

"Simon," Jeanette murmured, picking the soaked sheets out of the puddle, staring at her strained purple ink handwriting in disappointment. "Are you mad at me for ruining our homework?"

Simon sighed in frustration. "No, I'm not mad. I can do it all over again. It's not that hard, anyway."

Jeanette turned to him. "But, your papers…"

Simon shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'll just redo it when I get home tonight. No big a deal."

"I feel awful to have to make you do it all over," Jeanette said. "I'm really sorry."

Simon smiled, reaching over to push a strand of hair that fell from Jeanette's messy bun behind her ear. "It's okay, Jean. You don't have to worry about it. Let's get off this filthy floor and finish, okay?" He stood and put all the materials back onto the table.

Jeanette shook her head, dazed. _He touched me… and it wasn't on accident._ Jeanette sighed dreamily, but shook her head again with vigor. _Stop it, Netta! He obviously doesn't like you that way. He just wants to be friends. Stop thinking that way about him right now._

Jeanette gave a satisfied nod to herself, then realized the papers she was holding in her hands were completely dry. She could've sworn they were wet when she picked them up…

Jeanette dragged herself to her feet and gave them to Simon, who looked at the crisp papers in curiosity. "These were dry? Out of all of the papers you knocked over?"

Jeanette shrugged.

He turned to face her. "Um, actually, I wanted to tell you something. It's really important…"

Jeanette suddenly felt blood rush to her face again. "What is it?"

Simon blushed. "Well, I know how you're telling me that I'm really smart and all…"

"Yeah?" Jeanette widened her eyes in innocence. _Was he about to confess his undying love to me…? _"Go on…"

"Well, actually-"

"Hey, hey! Oh my God, Simon, what are _you_ doing here?"

Jeanette's lip curled. _I was about to ask you the same thing…_

"Uh, what do you need, Tara?" Simon asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Good question," Tara answered, smiling at Simon. "I really needed some study help, so I went looking for you. And a little birdie told me that you needed a study partner, so I came here looking for you. And I found you!" Tara waved Jeanette away as she wrapped her arms around Simon. "You can go now. He needs a _real_ study partner, not some pathetic, physically-challenged loser."

Jeanette's eyes stung and her cheeks burned.

Simon raised an eyebrow at the dirty blonde. "Excuse me?"

Tara giggled and raised her voice to her high-pitched squeal. "Oh, Simon, I'm sooooo glad you can help me with my homework."

"But Jeanette and I were-"

"Jeanette, be a dear and leave us be so Simon and I can catch up," Tara said, still smiling coyly at Simon.

Simon looked horrified. "Catch up on what?"

Tara grinned, hugging him tighter and batting her eyes. "You'll see."

Simon gave her an uncomfortable look and wiggled out of her grip. "Look, Tara, I will gladly tutor you, but Jeanette and I were-"

"You're still here?" Tara said flatly, staring at Jeanette. "Why don't you go find yourself another idiot for a boyfriend? I think Theo Seville's still available…"

Jeanette clenched her fists and placed them behind her back.

Simon glared at Tara. "Don't insult my brother. Ever. Got it?" he turned back to Jeanette and said in a calm voice, "Jeanette? You okay?"

Jeanette stared Simon's way, but her focus was on the sink faucet behind him.

And that faucet burst under her intense gaze.

Water shot from the sink like a fountain. It curved and curled in a strange but natural way, like a ribbon. And the ribbons of water shot straight at Tara, soaking her through.

Tara screamed, covering her chest (her shirt was now see-through, so you could see her bra). "What _was _that?'

Simon looked away, snickering. Jeanette couldn't help but join him.

Tara glowered at both them. "You know what? Both of you are perfect for each other. You two are both jerks!"

Jeanette stepped close to Tara. "Don't mess with me, Tara…"

"Why not? It's fun. Especially since you and your sisters are stupid, anyway."

Jeanette took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself. "Tara, I'm warning you…"

"How did you even get into this school, anyway? Did you bribe the principal or did her just feel sorry that you guys are poor orphans? No wonder your singing voices sound like crap."

The other faucets rattled, the water pressure rose…

And Jeanette screamed.

It was too much. All the faucets gave to the water pressure. The water circled around her, bending, twisting, and turning at her command. Jeanette focused on the rude girl and, with a pushing motion, commanded the water toward her.

The pressure shoved Tara down, the water angrily swirling around her. It seemed to have a mind of its own, smacking and slapping. Simon could do nothing but stare in shock.

Another strong stream of water came at Tara from the chemical sink, and sent Tara flying to the other side of the room, pushing her out the first-story window.

Simon grabbed Jeanette and pulled her into the storage closet.

"We should be safe here," Simon said, his voice full of panic. He wasn't sure what he saw, but it was obviously a threat to people's safety.

Jeanette suddenly noticed that he was panic-hugging her, holding her tight to his chest. _He's so warm, and strong…_

Simon looked down at her. "You saw that too, didn't you?"

"Some weirdly angry water attack Tara? Yes." Jeanette didn't really want to think about her right now, especially since they were in a pretty dark closet. Just the two of them…

"And you…caused it?"

Jeanette shrugged. She wasn't sure what had happened. All she knew was that Tara had been thrown out the window and probably had to go the hospital.

"And it's amazing how the water seemed to touch you but… you're not even wet."

Jeanette realized that Simon was also drenched, not as much as Tara probably was, but enough to realize that he was definitely wet.

And she didn't have a drop of water on her.

It was strange, considering that she had been standing in the middle of her own personal hurricane. Even weirder than the fact that she sucked all the water out of those papers.

What was going on?

Simon put his ear to the door. "I think we should see how much damage there is."

Jeanette agreed, pushing the door open.

The two stumbled out the closet, shocked at what they saw.

The room was practically scrubbed clean, the water and glass gone. The room even looked cleaner than it did before. Their text books were completely dry, their papers neat, backpacks near the door, where they left them. Even the faucets were screwed back on.

Like nothing even happened.

They stared, shocked. They didn't ask anything out loud, but grabbed their things and left the lab.

"That was… the most interesting experience I've had studying," Simon said carefully as the walked down the hallway.

"Mine, too," Jeanette said. They waked for a while in silence before Jeanette said, "Hey, what was that thing you were going to ask me? Before Tara came?"

"Oh, uh, well, I was wondering…"

_This is it. He's going to ask me out. He's going to say…_

"…if I could borrow your notes for next week."

Jeanette's smile faltered. "My notes?"

Simon nodded. "I need the notes when I get back from vacation on Tuesday. I'm leaving Thursday to visit family in Florida."

"I'll get the notes for you, Simon," Jeanette said a little flatly.

Simon smiled in relief. "Thanks, Jeanette. I'm glad I can count on you. I'd hate to miss a lesson."

"Yeah, whatever," Jeanette mumbled spitefully.

"Hey, why don't I come over your house and help you study?"

The idea that he would be over her house made her feel a little better. "Sure. Miss Miller wouldn't mind." And neither would I…

As the two walked down the hallway, Jeanette mulled over the latest events. _It could have just been my imagination_, Jeanette thought. _But then again, Simon had seen it too. Oh, well. It's over now. I should worry about more important things…like my study date with Simon._

**Done! A perfect combination of Simonette fluff, mean girls, and waves. What could be better? Nothing! :) Simon is so clueless, too. You go and get your man, Jeanette! Must work on next chapter...later. See ya real soon!**_  
_


	8. New Powers

**New chapter time! Yay! Sorry, haven't updated to this story in a while now. Writer's block has also been stopping me. But now I'm back and full of excitement for what's going to happen next. Time for the show!  
**

**New Powers  
**

Jeanette sank lower under the bubbles in her bathtub later that evening. All her thoughts focused on the events that had happened only three hours ago. _How did I do that? What was going on? Was I just imagining the whole thing? Was it all just part of growing up? _She highly doubted the last one.

She put her face underneath the water and gently blew bubbles in the water. _What does Simon think about the whole thing? He always thinks that things happen for a specific and logical reason. He's really smart. Maybe I should just ask him..._

She sighed. _He won't even notice me in the halls. I shouldn't even bother…_

When she lifted her head, she noticed the water floating around her like liquid in a lava lamp. She shrieked, sending the water back into the tub.

Jeanette shakily extended her hand to the center of the water, slowly lifting it. The water began to rise in a thick wave. As she quickly found out, the more she lifted her hand, the higher and thinner the water became. She became accustomed to it, the water delicately extending from the bathtub and shooting up like rockets. She stared in amazement, and the more she stared, the more her curiosity got the best of her and she would bend the water more until the water swirled and twirled around her like a water fountain.

Jeanette felt the pressure of school, her crush, and the facts that Tara was probably wrapped in bandages at the moment disappear. Watching the water swirl around like this made her feel…free, an almost floating feeling settling in her stomach. She wanted to stay like this forever, just sit in the tub and watch the beauty and grace of the swirling water for eternity…

"Jeanette!"

Just like that, her natural high immediately faded, and the beautiful ribbons of water stopped and splashed abruptly into and around the tub.

Jeanette sighed. Back to reality. "I'm in here."

Brittany popped her head into the bathroom. "Oh. Hey. You're still in here?"

Jeanette nodded.

"Well, hurry up and finish. Some people need to take showers instead of sitting in dirty bath water." She left just as quickly as she came.

Jeanette wanted to tell her that baths gave her time to think about things, but held her tongue, as usual. Brittany has been kind of testy ever since she got home. And she didn't want to argue with her sister when she was testy.

Jeanette reluctantly got out and wrapped a towel around her body, drying off. She looked at the tub yearningly as she drained the lukewarm water, wishing she'd had five more minutes to herself.

* * *

Brittany was downstairs on the couch, playing with a lighter. She watched the flame with interest. She lit a piece of paper on fire, watching the flames burn and flare against the flammable substance. The flames seemed to form into a dragon that roared, a snake that hissed, and Alvin, for some weird reason she didn't understand. But only did she realize halfway through charring the paper that she was burning her science homework.

Oops.

She smiled. Looks like she's gonna need an excuse for Mr. Whitman tomorrow…

Jeanette came downstairs, pulling her semi-damp hair into a ponytail. She noticed the fire-engulfed piece of paper in her sister's hands. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." Brittany quickly put the paper into her water glass. She heard the paper sizzle out in the liquid.

Jeanette narrowed her wide green eyes. "But I just saw you-"

"Hey, why don't you come down and join me on the couch? We can watch MTV." Brittany patted the seat next to her.

Jeanette shrugged and sat next to her hesitantly.

Brittany slumped in her seat, staring at the TV.

Jeanette spoke up, breaking the silence, "So, um, how was cheer practice?"

"I thought you would never ask," Brittany burst out, sitting up and facing Jeanette. "I mean, I had the worst time. These newbies cheer like crap, and, seeing as I've had experience since I was eight, I thought I had the advantage, since I had an amazing routine. But then Monique has the _audacity_ to show me up and make me look like a total idiot…"

* * *

Meanwhile, as Brittany ranted on to Jeanette, Eleanor kicked her soccer ball against the back of the house, thinking about soccer practice. _What were those vines about?_ She wondered. _Was that some kind of mirage or something?_

_Kick._

She foot-trapped the ball as it lazily rolled back to her. _But there hasn't been a heat wave in a while… Maybe I just need to sleep better at night. I might've just been dreaming._

_Kick._

She put her foot on the ball as it rolled back. _Yeah. That might be it. Besides, I need to stop sleeping in class, anyway._

_Kick._

She sighed and dribbled the ball around the backyard. _I should teach Kelly a thing or two. Then, maybe she would stop bugging me all the time. She really needs to get a life. Or, at the very least, a hobby that involves boxing gloves._

_Kick._

Eleanor waited for the ball to come back, but it didn't. _Where did it go…? _She looked around the yard for it, but it was nowhere to be found. That's weird, she thought, looking behind a huge oak tree. _I could've sworn I had…_

She spotted something black and white at the top of the tree.

_How did it…_

She ignored her curiosity and began climbing the tree. Just a coincidence, she tried to convince herself, reaching the branch where her ball was. It's nothing to be afraid of. This happens to everyone, right?

She looked down and realized that she was at the top branch. _What the…_

Eleanor looked back up and noticed her ball teetering on a thin branch. She reached up, trying to touch it, and managed to tip it…

It fell from the tree and tumbled softly to the ground.

Eleanor exhaled sharply and began her descent. Her hand slipped on one branch, and she felt herself falling, the air rushing through her. She severely hoped that a broken bone or two would ruin her chances on the soccer team.

She managed to catch herself on a branch that was forty feet from the ground.

_Phew. That was close._

The branch began to crack under her weight.

_Spoke too soon._

The branch broke, and she was sent into another free fall. _Why can't I just open an umbrella like Mary Poppins? Oh, wait. I don't have one. Crap._

She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

But something stopped her.

Eleanor refused to open her eyes. _I'm dead already. I died so quickly I hadn't even felt the pain. I'm beginning my descent to heaven…_

But she didn't feel any different.

When Eleanor forced herself to open her eyes, all she could see was her house upside down.

_Am I still dead?_

Eleanor opened her eyes wider, and realized she _was_ upside down, hovering at least twenty feet in the air.

Where was she?

Something gripped at her waist, and she saw that a vine from her house kept her hanging on.

Eleanor screamed.

* * *

"…and that's how the worst day of my life went." Brittany exhaled, glad to get the fact that she had started a fire off her chest. "So, how was your day?"

Jeanette stared at her sister indifferently. Should she tell her that she had sent Tara to the hospital? "Well, actually…"

"HELP!"

Brittany and Jeanette turned to the backyard, where the screaming was coming from. "Eleanor!"

When they rushed outside, they noticed that vines swirled angrily in the backyard, tossing their screaming sibling back and forth.

"Whoa! What did you do, El?" Brittany yelled to Eleanor.

"I…don't…know!" Eleanor screamed as she was tossed in the air more than hot potatoes.

"Hang on. El! We're coming- whoa!" Jeanette was grabbed by her heels by one of the vines. It wrapped around her stomach.

"I think nature's alive, Netta!" Eleanor half-joked, half-panicked. "It's coming to chew us out for being so cruel!"

"I think you might be right!" Jeanette wriggled and squirmed, but she was stuck. "Brittany! Do something!"

"Hang on, girls, I'm-" Brittany was interrupted by her ringing cell phone. She held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Brittany, this is no time for-"

Brittany held up one finger, and walked back into the house. "Hey, Muffy. No, I'm not doing anything important. What's up?..."

Jeanette sighed. "Leave it to Britt to be of no help."

"HELP US!" Eleanor shouted, the vines closing in on them tighter.

Jeanette shushed her. "Don't! We can't draw any attention to ourselves!"

"But Jeanette-"

"No buts," Jeanette said. "We've got to get out of this mess."

Eleanor whimpered fearfully, but nodded. _There must be a way out of here_. She eyed the hedge clippers on the ground. _Man, I wish that those were up here…_

The clippers slowly started to float.

Eleanor noticed this and started to concentrate on them. And the more she did, the more they floated. When they were close enough that she could get them, she grabbed them and furiously clipped her way out. She fell to the ground on her feet ( how the heck did she do that?) and clipped Jeanette out of her vine as well.

They both fell to the ground and scrambled into the house, locking the door behind them. They leaned against it and didn't bother looking back, even when the vines thumped on the door impatiently.

"…Okay, thanks for everything, Muffy. Bye." Brittany snapped her cell phone shut and saw the panicked looks on their faces. "What's with you two?"

Eleanor glowered at her. "We almost get killed by giant bone-crushing vines, and all you can say is 'what's with you?'"

Brittany shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

"You know what, Brittany? You're a spoiled, vain, egotistic socialite that doesn't even care that her own sisters were almost squashed to death by huge branches." Eleanor was now standing on her tiptoes, nose to nose with her eldest sister.

"Don't you yell at me, little girl!" Brittany shouted back. "I just received a call from the head cheerleader and they said I acted like a total witch and I might not make it on the team. So don't tell me about being spoiled and egotistical when I have just as much stress as you do, you benchwarmer!"

Eleanor flushed. "Shut up! At least I'm not some overoptimistic, boy-obsessed cheerleader!"

"Careful with those big words, El," Brittany mocked, eyeing her. "They might get you into serious trouble."

"Oh, I'll show you some serious trouble…" Eleanor's chocolate-colored eyes glowed. As soon as she said that, the wall behind Jeanette began to creak.

Jeanette turned, hearing the creak. "Uh, guys?"

"You'd better watch your back," Brittany murmured angrily to Eleanor, not noticing.

The oven began to shake.

"Uh, guys…." Jeanette repeated, eyeing the stove.

"Why should I?" Eleanor hissed back. "Just because you are older than me doesn't mean you can boss me around."

"Guys…" Jeanette flushed in frustration and anger.

"Yes it does! Maybe we should just drop this conversation!" Brittany shouted.

"No it doesn't! And I agree!" Eleanor yelled back. "Maybe we should just leave and you can boss me around tomorrow, like you always do!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

"YES IT IS!"

"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP!" Jeanette screamed, raising the tension in the room.

All at once, the stove exploded into flames, the faucet burst, and the vines cracked into the wall, slithering through the wall behind Jeanette.

"Holy crap, we're gonna die!" Eleanor panicked, hiding behind Brittany.

"Don't use me as a shield!" Brittany protested. "I'm way too young and pretty to get eaten by vines."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "I strongly disagree with that statement."

Brittany whirled around to eye her. "Why you little-"

The oven flared, and the vines whipped their branches angrily.

Brittany and Eleanor screamed and panic-hugged each other. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Jeanette, on the other hand, stayed calm and tried to think of a solution. She thought about how the water had floated happily around her in the bathtub, and how Tara had gotten knocked out when the water lividly responded to Jeanette's emotions.

Thinking on a whim, she held her hand out and concentrated hard on the faucet, determined to undo the damage that it was causing. She blocked every thought on the water, trying to dull down the irritation at her sisters she had felt just a couple of seconds earlier.

As Jeanette did this, the Chinese pendant around her neck glowed bright blue.

Not like the Chipettes noticed this. They were still freaking out.

Jeanette gained control of the water, slowly flicking her wrist and pulling her hand back. The water swirled and lifted, twisting and turning at her will. She thrust her hand out, and the water gracefully returned to its place.

Brittany and Eleanor stared at her with interest, fear, and amazement.

"How did you do that?" Brittany asked.

Jeanette stared at her closed fist in wonder. "I…don't really know."

"That was so cool!" Eleanor squealed, grinning. "You have to show me how to do that!"

"Well…I don't…It's kind of…" Jeanette tried to explain, but she was at a loss for words. She couldn't explain, but it was a really amazing experience.

Kind of like…magic.

"You have to show me how to do that," Eleanor repeated, widening her eyes pleading.

"I…well…" Jeanette looked away at her eager sister. How could she explain what had happened?

But before she could do anything, the fire began to smolder, and the vines stopped wiggling.

"Wh-what's happening?" Brittany asked cautiously.

As soon as she said that, the vines disappeared, and the fire burned itself out, evaporating into smoke.

The three girls exchanged glances.

"What just happened?" Eleanor asked, looking at the wall behind them, which was, miraculously fixed. There wasn't a crack to be seen.

"I'm…not sure," Jeanette said, inspecting the oven. Not even a char mark on the stainless steel.

"You know, let's not tell anyone about this," Brittany said. "Just in case if Miss Miller notices anything. Agreed?"

"Agreed," they echoed anxiously.

After a moment of silence, Brittany asked, "So… what do we do now?"

Jeanette and Eleanor exchanged glances.

Eleanor looked at them solemnly. "There's only one thing to do at a time like this."

Jeanette and Brittany stared at her with wide eyes. "You don't mean…" Brittany said.

Eleanor nodded. "Yeah, I do." She picked up the receiver on the cordless phone and dialed. When she held it up to her ear, she said, "Yeah, Pizza Hut?"

Jeanette and Brittany exchanged a teasing glance, but gladly joined Eleanor for their dinner.

* * *

Jeanette trudged downstairs in her pajamas the next day, scratching her head. What happened yesterday still seemed like an unreal dream. Hopefully the dream was over and she could go back to reality.

Jeanette yawned and went outside, getting the newspaper off the front lawn and dragging herself back into the house. She pulled out a carton of orange juice and poured it into a glass. She put the newspaper on the table so that Miss Miller would notice it. But before she could head upstairs with her orange juice, she noticed the headline in the paper. It read:

Name: Tara Jane Gregory

Age: 14

Height: 5'4"

Weight: 124 lbs

Missing since: October 17, 8:00 P.M.

**Whoa...I did not see that coming. Poor Tara. Oh, well.**

**Not one of my favorites. I guess this was kind of a gap filler for me. The action-y stuff is coming soon. Pinky promise! Time to get onto the next chapter. Peace!**


	9. Witches with Capital B's

**The title explains it all, don't you think?**

**Witches with Capital B's**

_One Week Later_

"They still haven't found Tara yet?" Brittany asked Jeanette, noticing the yellow posters that were still hanging up on the bulletin board at the school entrance.

Jeanette shook her head. "I can't believe it, either. They haven't found any of the people that have gone missing this past week, actually. No traces, no evidence left behind. Police are even starting to think it's a runaway conspiracy."

"Wow, how do you know all that?" Eleanor asked her.

Jeanette smirked. "Isn't it amazing how much you can learn from reading the paper?"

"Sorry," Eleanor muttered, fingering a loose strand on her messenger bag.

When they entered homeroom, Mrs. Collins snapped, "Well, it's about time that you three showed up." She slammed her books on her desk, causing the whole room to jump.

The Chipettes huddled in the doorway nervously. Brittany leaned into Jeanette. "When did _she_ get back? What happened to that really old and anxious substitute that was afraid of overdosing on painkillers?"

Mrs. Collins slapped her desk with her yardstick. She gave the girls a tight smile. "She had a very unfortunate accident. Poor woman never saw that bird fly into her car."

"What does she mean by that?" Eleanor murmured frightfully.

Mrs. Collins slapped her desk with the yardstick again. "Sit down, Millers!"

The Chipettes scrambled to their desks, pulling out their books.

"Now, I'm assigning you all fifteen-page essays, due tomorrow."

The whole class groaned, but no one groaned louder than Brittany, who wasn't feeling like cramming her essay in the morning.

Mrs. Collins paced the room, and then stared directly at the Chipettes. "But you three, since you came in two seconds late, will be assigned ten pages more than the rest of the class."

The Chipettes hung their heads at their punishment, but didn't dare make a sound.

As Mrs. Collins returned to attendance, Jeanette noticed that her eyes were not the strict yet wise gray that they usually were, but a dark, bottomless black that made her look more like a hawk than just her strict teacher self. She also noticed that the symbol on her shirt was that same symbol that was burned onto her jacket a week ago: Δ. It glowed when she looked at it.

Mrs. Collins noticed this and smiled suspiciously at her, beady eyes darting across the room. For a second, she looked strange, almost bird-like…

Jeanette blinked, not believing what she was seeing. Mrs. Collins seemed to turn back to normal, but her beady eyes still shone. _Please tell me that this nightmare is over soon,_ she wished.

Little did she know, it was just the beginning.

* * *

"Hey, have you guys noticed that Mrs. Collins seems, er, different since she get back?" Jeanette asked quietly during lunch, just in case Mrs. Collins was watching them.

Simon shrugged. "I don't know. She seems pretty normal to me."

"Do you think it has something to do with what happened last week?" Eleanor whispered to Brittany.

"It's just a mere coincidence," Brittany whispered back. "It can happen to anyone…" she turned to Jeanette. "Can't it?"

Jeanette gave her a small shrug. She wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

"What are you guys talking about?" Alvin asked loudly, hating not being in the loop.

"Oh, nothing," Eleanor giggled. "Just something that happened a week ago."

Theodore knit his brows together. "What happened last week?"

"Oh, just a little weed problem in our backyard," Eleanor replied casually, not noticing her sisters' anxious looks. "It got a little out of control."

"Oh." Theodore nodded, still looking a little confused.

"I'm serious, you guys," Jeanette said. "Mrs. Collins seems, I don't know, strange now. I mean, she is meaner than ever, piles homework on top of our homework, picks on us whenever she gets a chance, and is always watching us."

"Hmm, doesn't sound that much worse than the old Mrs. Collins," Alvin said, putting mustard on his cheeseburger. "Although her eyes kind of give me the creeps."

Eleanor nodded. "Mrs. Collins scares me more than usual."

"Like she wasn't already scary before," Brittany added. "I mean, who looks more crow-like than her? Hasn't she ever heard of facials that can iron out wrinkles?"

"Is that so, Miss Brittany?"

The girls jumped at the scratchy sound of Mrs. Collins's voice, but the teacher only grinned bemusedly at the three. "Maybe I should try that idea soon, then."

Brittany only nodded, and Mrs. Collins walked away casually. She then whispered to the table, "You see? That woman is like a living zombie, only creepier. How else would she have just popped out of nowhere like that?"

"I told you guys that she was creepy the first time I met her," Alvin said. "How else can she whip those detentions out so fast?"

"I don't know, but it's like she's some kind of superhuman or something." Brittany twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

Suddenly, a milk-curdling scream rang from the hallway, causing the room to fall silent.

"Wh-what was that?" Eleanor whispered.

Brittany stared at them with wide eyes. "I don't know, but maybe we should-"

"MILLERS!" a scratchy voice shrilled from the hallway. The whole cafeteria turned to them, eyeing them expectantly.

The three looked at each other, then gave pleading glances to the Chipmunks, who simply shrugged and gave them sympathetic glances (well, except for Alvin, who gave Brittany an "I'm glad I'm not in your crap right now" smirk). They hesitantly got up from the table, and then crossed nervously to the hallway.

What they saw was their teacher covered in some kind of chunky, sour-smelling substance.

"Aaugh!" their teacher grunted, trying to scrape the slimy substance off her, screeching and picking at herself. "You three are in so much trouble! Detention! Two hours with me in my classroom! No exceptions, no excuses. And if one or all of you fail to show up, you will have to serve Saturday detention and face failing the class."

"But we didn't do anything!" Brittany protested. "We didn't dump sour milk or cream or whatever that stuff is on you. We shouldn't be punished for this."

"Oh, really?" Mrs. Collins grabbed a bucket from off the floor and examined it. "Then why does it say 'Property of the Miller Sisters' on the bottom of it?" she held it up on the bottom where a piece of duct tape was on the bottom and scrawled with a mess of letters.

"That's not even any of our handwriting-" Jeanette pointed out.

"It doesn't matter!" Mrs. Collins yelled, whipping the bucket back onto the ground. With a clang, the dented bucket rolled to the side sheepishly. "What you did was wrong, and the evidence said that you did it, so I'm ordering you three to report to detention or I will send a report to the principal and have you suspended!"

"That's not fair!" Eleanor cried, tears welling in her wide brown eyes.

Mrs. Collins pursed her lips. "Life isn't fair, dearies. Now go get a mop and clean this mess before it seeps into the floor." Jeanette noticed the symbol on her cream-colored sweater glow again before Mrs. Collins stalked away, barking at two juniors that were giggling at their lockers.

As they stared at the mess on the floor, Brittany felt a sharp jab in her back, but managed to catch herself before she fell into the goop. She heard two girls snickering behind her, and whirled around to find to Monique and Kelly cackling.

"Gee, guys, really sorry that you have to spend your afternoon with Collins." Monique pouted in false sympathy.

"But I can't believe it missed," Kelly added giddily. "I mean, we were aiming for you guys. But this is way better!"

Jeanette gave them steely glares. "You mean, you did this?"

"Well, it's the least we can do, after you hurt our friend." Monique stepped toward Jeanette. "Sending her to the hospital was pretty harsh, don't you think, Jean? And then, there's some rumors circulating that you know all about these kidnappings…"

"I have nothing to do with those and you know it," Jeanette said coldly and flatly. Her fists were clenched.

"Well, then, you'd better get your story straight," Monique replied just as coldly, shaking her dark curls and putting her hands on her hips, "because I have a feeling someone's gonna get blamed real soon, and it might be you."

_SLAP._

"_Bitch!_" Monique shouted, lunging at her. Kelly held her back, saying, "Mo, it's not worth it!"

Jeanette didn't care whether it was worth it or not; she was just glad she did it. That would teach her not to be so omnipresent.

Monique stopped squirming, but snatched herself out of Kelly's hands, straightening her black blazer and rubbing her sore cheek. "Let's go, Kel."

Kelly hissed, "You'd better watch yourself, Miss Priss. You never know what's gonna happen." and with angry glares, the two girls walked away."

After a pause, Brittany said, patting Jeanette's shoulder, "I think you handled that well. She deserved it."

"I still feel bad, though," Jeanette said, gazing shamefully at the waxed floor tiles.

"But not by much, right?" Brittany smirked.

Jeanette smiled a little. "It did feel kind of empowering…"

The girls giggled.

"Well, now I feel bad about getting detention." Eleanor bit her lip nervously. "I guess I should explain to Coach that I'm not gonna be able to make it to practice."

"But at least we're in it together, right?" Brittany said, putting her arms around her sisters. They nodded in agreement.

"We'd better go get a janitor and clean this curdled mess." Jeanette wrinkled her nose at the lumpy, reeking substance behind them. "Who gets to tell the janitor?"

"Not it!" Brittany and Eleanor said at the same time, sidestepping the pool and running back to the cafeteria.

Jeanette threw her hands up in distress. "Why am I always the unlucky one?" she sighed and trudged to the lunchroom to find a janitor.

* * *

"I can't believe her!" Monique said behind the locker rooms that afternoon, pacing around. "I mean, that girls used to be so quiet and such a bookworm, and she thinks she can come up to me and slap me like that? I think not!"

"We need something to blackmail her with," Kelly said, sitting on her soccer bag digging her spoon into a cup of chocolate pudding. "If we blackmail her, then we can hold it over her head and we can do whatever we want with her."

"Yeah, but the girl's smart. There's no way we can hold something over her head." Monique rubbed her still-scarlet on her cheek.

"What about if we flirt with Simon? That'll drive her crazy for sure." Kelly spooned some pudding into her mouth.

Monique waved it off. "Been there, done that. Besides, he's Tara's boy toy. No way can we put the moves on Si."

Kelly shrugged and ate more pudding.

"Hello, girls."

Monique and Kelly jumped.

"Oh, hey, Mrs. C," Monique said in her polite-girl voice. "What brings you here?"

Mrs. Collins's smile seemed wider and brighter in the shadows. "Your doom."

Kelly blinked, dropping her pudding cup with the spoon still in it. "Our…what?"

Mrs. Collins lunged, grabbing the two girls' necks in each hand and slamming them into the wall, putting them in choke-holds. Her grin spread across her face.

"Why. Are. You. Doing. This?" Kelly gasped between desperate breaths.

"That's something only I know, and you two will never find out." Mrs. Collins gleamed in the darkness, and her face changed. Her skin melted away, and her form changed as she stood there, choking the two to death.

As she changed into her true form, the two girls emitted terrified screams, then collapsed, unconscious.

**Man, I'd hate to have a teacher like that in high school. The next one will be even more epic, though. Hmm, just looking back on these chapters, I noticed that I haven't mentioned my pie in a while now. Pie, pie, PIIIIIIEEEEE! Pie rocks! Okay, now I'm ruining a serious moment. Keep on reviewing and I will still promise pie!**


	10. Not Your Usual Detention

**First update since the start of school! This one's action-y and pretty creepy, so hold on to those hats! Okay, on with it!**

**Not Your Usual Detention  
**

"I still can't believe that woman gave us detention," Brittany mumbled, stomping toward Mrs. Collins's classroom around the same time that afternoon. "Couldn't she at least let us off the hook with our essays or something?"

"I don't know," Eleanor said, fingering her green skirt anxiously, "but I do know that Coach Ryder wasn't too happy about me missing practice today for detention."

"I hope this doesn't go on my permanent records," Jeanette said, tightening her black tie around her neck and straightening her matching blazer with the school's emblem embroidered onto it. "I mean, I had so many plans about going to Harvard."

"Yes, Jeanette, we all know that one bad demerit just _screams_ 'rebel'," Brittany said sarcastically as she continued walking.

Jeanette rolled her eyes, following her sisters into the empty room.

"Okay wouldn't it make just a little more sense if the teacher was here, actually watching us?" Brittany surveyed the room, just in case Mrs. Collins was around somewhere, waiting to pop up randomly from the shadows.

Eleanor slid into her usual seat. "Well, I hope she makes it. I've got practice time to make up."

"Yeah, and I really wanted to get started on the homework at home," Jeanette said, mentally adding, _With Simon, of course. _She went to a seat by the window and propped her head up in her hands, silently slipping into her dream world (the one where she was pretty, Simon secretly pined for her, and the mean girls were nicer to her because she was so cool).

She sighed. Like her fantasies would ever come true, anyway.

Brittany groaned and plopped into the seat next to Eleanor, pulling out her cell phone and texting her friends, who sent her sympathy-pity texts on her way here. No way was she gonna show that she was weak. "I hope she gets here soon. I just wanna get this over with. If she doesn't show in five minutes I'm gonna-"

"You're going to what?" a voice hissed from the back of the room.

The Chipettes whirled around to find their teacher in the corner, glaring at them as she was pulling down a window shade.

"N-nothing, M-Mrs. Collins," Brittany stammered, suddenly intimidated. Maybe she was a _little_ afraid of her teacher. "When did you get back here?"

"Oh, I just had a little…business to take care of with a couple of my students." She pulled down another shade. "I just thought they should be a little more… responsible with their lives. So I put them to good use."

Eleanor slinked back in her seat. "W…what did you do?"

Mrs. Collins's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Do you really want to know what happened to them, Miss Eleanor?"

Eleanor's stomach rotated one-hundred eighty. She _really_ didn't want to know.

"Now, girls, you know the rules of detention." By this time, she was now at the front of the room, leaning on her desk, arms folded. The room was shadowed since all the blinds were drawn closed. "No eating, no drinking, and no talking. And absolutely no screaming. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves, do we?" The woman gave them a tight smile.

Jeanette and Eleanor exchanged a wide-eyed glance. _What did she mean when she said no screaming?_

Brittany didn't notice, because she was reaching for her cell phone, which had slid to the front of the room after she dropped it. Brittany was even willing to crawl on the floor to sneak-grab it from behind the desk. Closer…closer…

"And what do you think you're doing?" Mrs. Collins snapped, putting her foot in between Brittany's hand and her cell phone. She picked up the rhinestone-covered phone.

"Hey, give that back!" Brittany shouted, getting off the floor.

"I think that's quite enough for now, Miss Brittany," Mrs. Collins said sternly.

"But-"

"Get to your seat!" Mrs. Collins yelled, gripping the phone.

Brittany scampered back to her seat.

"Now, I'm only going to say this once," Mrs. Collins said flatly. "Where are the Crystals?"

The girls exchanged glances. Crystals?

"What crystals?" Jeanette asked.

Mrs. Collins glared at them, placing her hands on the desk and piercing Jeanette with her black-eyed stare. "You know what I'm talking about. Where are they?"

"Um…we, er, don't have any crystals," Eleanor said, disliking the edge in her teacher's voice.

"Don't play with me, you three," Mrs. Collins warned, her eyes shining scarily. "I'm going to ask this one more time. Where. Are. The. Crystals?"

"Look, lady, we don't have any crystals or whatever you're talking about," Brittany said, eyeing her phone that was still clutched in Mrs. Collins's hand. "So, if this is what the detention's all about, then maybe we should just be let off with a warning…" She began to slip out of her seat and tried to make a grab for her cell, but Mrs. Collins was too quick, sidestepping her and the next thing Brittany knew, she was on her back, Mrs. Collins's hand clutched around her throat tightly.

"Brittany!" her sisters cried out, trying to reach her, but Mrs. Collins thrust out her hand to them. Brown, thin branches popped out of the floor, wrapping around them, tying their limbs to their bodies and wrapping tightly around them. They attempted to scream, but particularly thick, dry branches wrapped around their mouths, muffling their shouts.

"You three thought I wasn't quick enough, didn't you?" Mrs. Collins said, her voice echo-y and an octave higher than usual. "You though that this would be a quick battle for your precious crystals and you could just leave here unscathed? I don't think so." Mrs. Collins turned to Brittany, her head at a strange angle and a gritty smile on her face. "Do you have the crystal or not, young lady?"

"I… don't know…what you're…talking…about…," Brittany gasped, pulling on the bony fingers that gripped tighter with every breath she took.

Mrs. Collins seem dissatisfied with that answer, because then she whisper-hissed, "Then die, little Gem."

Brittany creased her brows. "…What?"

"THEN DIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" Mrs. Collins screamed, lifting the Chipette up by her neck, and throwing her to the other side of the room. Brittany crashed into the cabinets headfirst, making hard contact with the sturdy wood. She slinked to the floor, very dizzy but not bleeding or unconscious.

Yet.

Jeanette and Eleanor yelled muffled responses and threats, but Mrs. Collins didn't seem to hear them. Jeanette realized the horror of the situation was about to have dire consequences:

The Δ on her shirt was glowing.

And it wasn't that bright gold she had seen the first time she saw the symbol, but a very blood red that cast evil figures across the room.

Mrs. Collins laughed, that creepy, ear-to-ear smile on her face, and a cloud formed around her. As it swirled, the girls could see their sweet but strict teacher morph into something horrible. Her hands grew into long, gangly, thin fingers attached to bony palms. Her body grew lanky and tall, as if she hadn't eaten in months, and her hair was stringy and patchy-_if_ she had any left at all. And her face-ugh, her face-looked like it had been sucked away with a vacuum. Her cheeks were imploded; her nose was thin and shriveled, as if it would fall off at any moment like a raisin. And her black irises for eyes had been replaced with empty eye socket holes-no eyes at all.

She kind of looked like your grandmother-if she was dead and about three years into decomposition.

The monster gave a creaky cackle as she lunged for Brittany. "You'll pay for hiding those crystals, little Gem!"

Brittany rolled out of the way, sending the zombie tumbling into the cabinet, putting a further dent into it. She scrambled for the door, terrified.

The monster, formerly known as Mrs. Collins, was still way too fast, holding out her hand and sending branches in her direction.

Brittany dodged the branches and ducked for her phone, which was on the floor. Maybe if she could call the police or the FBI…

Mrs. Collins picked up the phone and examined it, her smile waning as confusion crossed her wrinkled face. "What's this? Some newfangled device? Is this the legendary Fire Crystal?" she pressed a few buttons on it.

"Hello?" someone answered on the other line.

She frowned deeply, which was almost as bad as her smiling. "Useless thing." She crushed the device easily in her palm, carelessly dropping the remains onto the floor.

Brittany stared open-mouthed at her destroyed phone. She looked up, glaring at the evil thing in front of her, clenching her fists, fire pulsing in her ice-blue eyes.

That monster had crossed the line…

Now it was war.

Brittany surprised herself by giving it a swift kick to its face. The monster screamed, holding its face in surprise. She was so surprised by the attack that the branches that were suffocating her sisters immediately dissipated, freeing them. All three ran for the door.

"You Gems aren't getting me that easily!" Mrs. Collins grabbed Eleanor and shoved her down, causing her to skid across the room, knocking desks and making a crater-deep skid mark in the floor. Then she turned to her sisters. "You two are mine now."

Eleanor groaned, rubbing her head and saw the monster chase the room, throwing branches at them and tossing them against the wall with her bony hands. She wanted to do something…

But what?

Without thinking, she put out her hand, a confused look crossing her face. She didn't necessary know why she was doing it, but she guessed that it would help. She concentrated really hard on the monster, wishing it would go away.

Then the room rumbled, a low sound at first, but it grew louder and louder, shaking the whole room violently. The windows creaked, and vines exploded from them, breaking glass and tearing the blinds.

Mrs. Collins shriveled in the sunlight, shrieking a high-pitched noise that sounded like an eagle cawing. The green vines wrapped around the screeching creature tightly.

"Let me go, you vile little girls!" Mrs. Collins screamed, thrashing in her trap.

"Not until you tell us who you are and why you're after us," Eleanor said defiantly, still a little freaked out.

Mrs. Collins laughed an evil laugh. "You'll learn in time, little Gems. I'm not through with you yet. You'll see. I'll be back. But in the meantime, I'll be watching you three very closely. Detention dismissed."

The monster _poofed_, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

**I _knew_ she was pretty creepy...bet you didn't expect her to be one of the bad guys, huh? Okay, maybe you did, but this is a rhetorical question that doesn't need a response, so let's just say for the sake of it that you didn't expect it. And I know you guys have some serious questions abut what Gems and the crystals are. **

**But that's _way_ into the future... **

**In between homework I will keep writing, though. It might not be anytime soon, but just wait. Good things come for those who wait.**

**...  
**

**Are you still here? Well, stop staring at this message and click that review button! I NEED REVIEWS-AND COOKIES! GO COOKIES!**


	11. Attack

**I felt like I owed you guys one. :)**

**Attack**

The Chipettes watched in horror as their teacher escaped. At one point, Eleanor lunged for the vines. But by the time she could grab them, the monster's image evaporated into thin air.

She cursed, holding the thick net of vines. "She escaped."

"She is _so_ paying for a new phone," Brittany grumbled, cradling her ruined phone.

Jeanette stared wide-eyed at the destroyed room. "Um, did anyone else see our teacher attack us and totally trash this room, or is this some bizarre dream that I'm dreaming while sleeping peacefully in detention?"

Eleanor came over to Jeanette and sharply pinched her skin.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Jeanette asked, rubbing her arm.

"That just proves that we aren't dreaming," Eleanor said.

"Which means that we're gonna be blamed for this whole mess and it's that entire witch's fault!" Brittany snorted, cursing under her breath. "I hate my life."

"Well, what went on in here?"

The girls turned to find one of the janitors staring at them. They gave each other worried glances. How were they going to get out of _this_ mess?

"Ummm…" the girls looked around, trying to find an excuse.

"Well, y'all sure did a pretty good job of cleanin', that's for sure," the janitor said in wonder, staring wide-eyed at the room.

"Huh?" The girls looked around, and the room was practically sparkly. The floors were waxed, the books on the bookshelves were spick and span in their neat, non-broken bookshelves. The thirty desks were neatly lined in five rows of six, the walls didn't have dents, and even the windows were repaired and streak-free.

"Well, I can see I got all the rooms, then." The janitor tipped his dirt-streaked, mud-brown-tinted hat to them. "See y'all in the mornin'." He wheeled his cart off happily.

The girls did a double take on the room. There was no way that this room had gotten so clean in such a short amount of time. Was it karma for some goodhearted event of some sort? Was it a strict warning from the universe that was telling them _don't let this happen again or else…_?

The girls had a feeling, though, that this was about something a lot more than that. Something supernatural was going on. And they couldn't quite place their feeling on it, but something nagged them in their minds that it was only about to get a billion times worse…

And it was like a serious bout of déjà vu.

"Let's just go," Brittany said, shifting her backpack to the other arm uncomfortably. "This is totally bogus." Brittany went out the door, and Eleanor followed close behind, still staring sullenly at the vine-free floor. Jeanette began to follow, but something sparkly caught her eye on the Pine-Sol-scented desk.

It was a small blue rod, no bigger than a ballpoint pen.

Jeanette touched the small rod, and instantly visions came to her. Images flashed in her mind-images of a giant golden castle; large, embellished rooms filled with furniture she and her sisters could never afford; a small balcony at the top of a castle.

A sweet but shadowed face smiling at her in the depth of twilight…

"Jeanette!'

Jeanette snapped out of her dreamy visions, whipping around to find her sister glaring at her.

"Stop daydreaming and come on!" Brittany ordered, stomping her foot. "This place gives me the creeps! Do you want me to haul you out of here or what?"

"Uh, n-no," she stammered fearfully.

"Then let's go!" Brittany stomped purposefully out of the classroom, while Eleanor gave Jeanette an apologetic look before following.

Jeanette hesitated for a second, then grabbed the rod and sprinted out of the room, pocketing it before she could even make up her mind.

* * *

Muffy shuffled slowly through the homework on her bed later that night, feeling out of sorts. She couldn't believe that she had three term papers, essay questions, a whole section of World War II to chronicle into her notes, three pages of Latin to translate, a complete chapter of math homework to study for, which she was probably going to get tested on, no doubt, a new cheer to perfect, an opinion paper for the debate team, practicing and perfecting her PowerPoint presentation on the evolution of cell phones…

And that was all just due tomorrow.

Muffy groaned, throwing the papers onto the desk in a frustrated huff, and leaned onto her bed, staring at her hot-pink ceiling. She crossed over to her window and looked out at the twinkling stars.

Maybe she needed a tutor…

"Why, hello, Muffy."

Muffy turned around to find a shadow in her room. Since the only light in her room came from the lamp on her nightstand, she could not see the unfamiliar shape that was sitting at her desk casually, curling her hands and grinning a Cheshire cat grin.

Muffy grabbed a pillow and held it up defensively (as if that would help). "Who… who are you? And how did you get into my house?"

The shadow chuckled. "Dear, it's only me." The shadow stepped into the light to reveal a tall figure, with broad shoulders and a muscular face, and blonde hair, just like her.

Muffy lowered the pillow and stared, wide-eyed. "Dad?"

Muffy's father grinned at her and outstretched his arms. "Come here and give your dad a hug."

Muffy's father was divorced from her mother and almost never came to see her except for about twice a year. Without thinking, Muffy ran to her father and gave him the biggest hug she could give him. "Oh, Dad, I'm so glad to see you! I have so much to tell you."

"I'm so glad you think that, sweetheart," he said caringly, "and I'm sorry, but there's one thing we have to do first."

"And what's that?" Muffy snuggled into his chest, glad he could be home, safe and warm, with her. "I'm up for anything."

He looked down at her and gave her a big grin that spread eerily around his face. "It looks like you're gonna have to give me energy first."

Muffy looked up at her dad. "What?"

Her father wrapped his hands around her slender throat and cackled with a big grin. Muffy tried to pry herself from his tight grip, but his army-perfected chokehold was just too much for her. "Tell me where the Gems are, little girl."

"Dad, I… I don't… what are you…" Muffy sputtered, trying to breathe.

Her dad cackled again, and threw her against her nightstand. "I might just spare your little life, human, if you tell me where the prestigious Gems are. Or else, you die… and your life is mine."

Muffy gasped for air. "I…don't know…what you're… talking about…"

This answer didn't satisfy him, as he frowned and, in an instant, his arm stretched toward her rapidly, even though he was perfectly still.

Muffy thought about the pillow in her hand at the last minute, and threw it at him. He roared as he it hit him in the face and he tried to get it off, the pillow somehow confusing him as it stuck to his face. This gave Muffy time to run to the door, reaching for her phone to call the police.

Or, maybe, the FBI…

A wrinkly, branch-like arm stretched out and grabbed her neck, pinning her to the wall only a few feet away from the door. Her father's form changed into a woman now, tall and lanky, grey-streaked brown bob, black, beady eyes...and a dry, woody arm that extended from her sleeve in an eerie manner.

Muffy stared at the woman, stunned, sputtering, "Y…you're not my father…"

Mrs. Collins smiled that grin that reached nearly to the corners of her eyes. "Lucky guess, human." She transformed into her evil, old, nightmare-inducing form. "And your time is up." Her Δ glowed blood red, changing the room into an eerie deep burgundy. Black lightning erupted from her, transferring the energy from Muffy to her.

Muffy's bloody murder screams filled the air as a purple wavelength leaked from her throat and into the demon. She inhaled the wavelengths. "This will be wonderful energy for my Queen…"

"Hey!"

The monster turned to find Muffy's mother glowering, holding what looked like a frying pan. "Step. Away. From. My. Daughter."

Mrs. Collins just smiled amusedly. "Oh, look. A human with a skillet. I'm _very_ afraid you might harm me!"

"Mom…don't," Muffy croaked weakly, attempting to reach out to her.

Muffy's mother made the mistake of Frisbee-tossing the skillet at the monster.

Mrs. Collins punched through the steel as if it were made out of paper, creating a dull _bong_ that echoed through the room and scattering the million pieces.

Muffy's mom was immediately intimidated and tried to escape, but Mrs. Collins grabbed her with her other arm before she could get away and pinned her to the wall next to her daughter.

As the monster tightened her grip, Muffy's mother struggled, but managed to say hoarsely, "Who…who are you?"

Mrs. Collins grinned cruelly. "You must know that I am a member of the Delta Kingdom, an organization that specializes in the monopolization of different kingdoms." Mrs. Collins smiled sadly. "And by my observations, it looks like we will be taking over this planet very soon…if your polluting doesn't create a shift in the ecological balance and implodes into a black hole first. Say good bye, humans." Black lightning exploded from the top of the ceiling and struck the two women, stealing purple wavelengths and weakening their strength. The more they hollered, the more energy was torn from their bodies. Finally, the two were weakened so much that they slumped to the floor in a defeated heap, closing their eyes and falling into a deep sleep spell. Two shiny white orbs flowed form their bodies and landed into the hands of the monster.

Mrs. Collins smiled with satisfactory and grabbed the small but intensely glowing orbs, storing them into a black containment chamber. She let go of the feeble humans and pulled out a black, shiny, obsidian-looking crystal. After chanting a code into it, a hazy hologram shone in its reflection.

The hologram sighed. "This had better be good, Agent Star. I am much too busy to be bored with your talk right now."

"My Queen, I have more energy sources for you," Mrs. Collins answered, grinning proudly. "I have retrieved more life pearls for the gathering of the next takeover."

"Have you found out where those little brats are with those Crystals yet?" the hologram asked, pixilating (?) in the reflection.

The monster hesitated. "Well, no, but my lady-"

"No buts!" the hologram yelled, the force blurring her image. "I need those crystals now! Those crystals mean the life or death for the Delta Kingdom! If those crystals are not put together in the next eclipse, it might even be the death of the Darkness! Go find me the crystals!"

"But-"

"NOW!" the hologram demanded, fizzing out into a blur of grays and whites, and dissolving altogether.

The monster muttered curses, then held the black crystal at arms' length (_regular_ arms' length) and chanted an ancient incantation. As soon as she was done, two of the black shadows gave evil heckles. They shot for the two slumped figures on the floor, and immediately absorbed themselves into them.

"Arachnid! Moth! Come forth, and fulfill your duties!" Mrs. Collins shouted. The crystal spread sonic waves through the two bodies, shaking them violently.

Until two pairs of now glowing red eyes stared back at her.

"Yes, Miss Star," two monotone voices said, the faces staring blankly at her. "We are at your command."

The monster smiled. "Good, good. And now I have one favor to ask of you…"

"Anything for you, Miss Star. What do you need?"

"Get. Those. Crystals."

* * *

It was a beautiful night the night of the coronation. The midnight-blue sky was twinkling with stars, glistening more than glitter. The lake nearby sparkled, rippling in the soft breeze and basking in the moon's haunting illuminated glow. The wind whistled through the trees, spreading the sweet scent of pine throughout the whole kingdom. It was the most perfect, romantic night ever.

And yet, it wasn't enough for Justice.

Justice wound up the small jeweled box and listened to the sad, slow music. A deep pain pierced her heart, choking her throat. _Why did he have to be so far away? Why? _She sniffed, wiping away her tears. She opened the box and pulled out a small, squarely-folded note. She opened the creased, torn, soft, weathered piece of paper, like the other million times she had done before, and read the slightly slanted words that were familiar and hugged her like a comfortable, form-fitting gown. It was the last message he had sent, and even then that had been five months ago. The note read:

_Justice,_

_I've been missing you. My heart hurts every time I think about you. Especially when I think about our argument._

_It's hard not to be there in time for your coronation, but it has been so complex here. The Delta Kingdom has been sending swarms of their enemies here to Earth. Their attempts to rule our kingdom are weakening our armies. Many of our men have been killed, and there is much stress here on all of us. I wish I could be with you right now, but I am sorry._

_I do not know when I will be back, or if I will even make it back, but I do know this: you will be the best queen for your kingdom. I just know it._

_Good luck to you, Justice._

_You mean everything to me._

_Love, Kenji_

Justice read and reread the soft, slightly faded paper, tears welling in her green eyes. _Why did he have to leave? Why was he not here, with me, where it was safe and peaceful?_ She let the tears fall, her shoulders shaking miserably. He should never have ventured out there when the Deltas attacked Earth. He never should have decided that dying for his kingdom was more important than supporting and comforting her when she needed him the most. She knew she shouldn't have argued with him before he left, but she couldn't help it. No man ever just left so suddenly without telling the woman he loved that he had to leave.

Especially after what had happened the night before…

Justice gave a defeated sigh, wiping away tears. She couldn't believe she was stuck here, hopelessly waiting for someone who wasn't even sure if he was going to ever see her again. Why did she even bother to be out here, waiting for him, when he was so far away? Justice went back inside, lost and confused, but putting on a confident smile as she returned to her people.

"Are you alright, Justice?" Elegance asked once Justice joined her in the coronation ballroom. "You look like you've been crying."

"I'm fine," Justice murmured through her smile.

Elegance eyed her sister suspiciously. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Jeanette nodded warily. "Do not worry about me, Elegance. I am alright."

Elegance sighed, not questioning her elder sister's authority. She skipped off to talk to a group of dukes and duchesses, while Justice sank in a nearby chair, hoping and praying that her long-lost love was alive and well.

**More of a gap-filler for me than anything. It still doesn't stray from the original storyline, though. To be honest, I haven't worked on this in a while. I've been too busy with school, my community service project, and chapters of my other stories. Don't worry, I haven't completely abandoned it yet. Having a little writers' block. Give me a little time to think... Just review! It helps to stimulate the writing follicles in my brain. :) **


	12. Spirit

**I'msosorryI'msosorrypleasedon'thatemepleasedon'thatemepleasedon'thateme!**

***ahem***

**Now that we've gotten the apology of my unexplained absence of about 9 months from this story out of the way, please enjoy my return while I bang my head on my keyboard, trying to figure out what to write in the next chapter.**

***bangbangbang***

**Spirit**

Brittany sat through math class, bored out of her mind, as she tuned out yet another of one of Miss Hatchett's boring lectures on algebraic equations. When was algebra going to help her, anyway? Would it help her in her career as a professional singer, anyway? Would it help her become one of the world's youngest billionaires, right next to that guy that invented Facebook? Would it help her to become a world renowned singer-songwriter, fashion designer-slash-model, entrepreneur, household name, and all-around biggest name that needed to be recorded in the history books? Who also had biographies, pictures, and movies to document her greatness? Who was going be bigger than life, almost as big as Madonna and Michael Jackson? She seriously doubted it.

So, why was she still sitting in a frumpy, knee-skimming green plaid skirt, itchy stockings, ugly penny loafers, and a stiff, starchy white button-down shirt with a green plaid tie that matched the skirt a little too well, mulling over how she should be famous and beautiful and get everything she ever wanted instead of listening to the lesson and taking notes like Theodore, who she could've sworn was checking her out every five seconds after scribbling down notes onto his paper?

Maybe she could drop out. But that would seriously not look good, especially when Miss Miller had paid almost five hundred dollars for her to even attend this stupid school instead of sending her to the local public high school.

Curse Jeanette and Eleanor for having academic and athletic scholarships.

Maybe if there was some kind of beauty or singing scholarship instead…

!  
Brittany sighed in relief, stuffing her books into her backpack and running out of the classroom as quickly as possible, not even bothering to wait for Theodore.

Brittany pursed her lips as she dialed the combination into her locker to get it open, her mind racing over her status as a cheerleader. What if they hadn't liked her cheers? What if she needed to beg and plead with the seniors to get them on her side? Or maybe she needed to lay back and keep cool…

"Uh, Brittany?" a timid voice said

She snapped to attention.

It was Theodore.

She rolled her eyes at the person who dared to interrupt her thoughts. "Not now, Theodore. I'm busy." She stuffed random things into her pink and black backpack, hoping he'd think she was preoccupied and leave.

"Uh, actually, I just wanted to give you this." He offered a pink binder with black and silver marker writings on it. "You'd left it behind when you left, so I, uh, wanted to give it to you."

Brittany creased her brows, bewildered. "Uh, thanks, I guess." She took it.

Theodore looked at her long and hard, blushing madly. An awkward moment passed.

Brittany shifted uncomfortably. "Did…you want anything else?"

"N-no…" he murmured. Another hesitant pause, and then he blurted, "Well, uh, bye!" before rushing down the hall as quickly as his chubby body could take him.

Brittany snorted in amusement and confusion. What had just happened? She went back to her books, muttering, "Weirdo…"

All of a sudden, something caught her eye in her binder.

She opened it and pulled out a ruby-colored rod, no bigger than a pen. Could that freak have possibly looked through her binder and put it in there as a not-so-subtle "I like you" present?

Maybe.

But, as she surveyed the little object, it seemed to bring back something that was important. She couldn't seem to know what it was, but it seemed to be at the back of her mind, on the very tip of her tongue, like it was something she wasn't supposed to forget…

The bell rang a second time, signaling the start of the club meetings.

Brittany gasped. The second cuts of tryouts were today! She grabbed her binder, shoved it in her bag, zipped it up, and pushed her way through tons of people to get to the gym.

The small red rod landed onto the tiled floor with a hollow clink as she hurried away, abandoned and forgotten.

* * *

Eleanor skipped home from school, hoping to stop by the local ice cream shop for a scoop of mint chocolate chip. She licked her lips, imagining how she would ask for whipped cream on top, then top it with smooth hot fudge, crunchy peanuts, and a big, fat, ripe cherry right on top.

Now _that_ was how a sundae was built.

Eleanor turned the corner, and somehow saw herself reading unfamiliar symbols on the buildings.

She groaned. She'd gotten lost in Chinatown. Again.

Eleanor looked around, looking for a possible map out of there, and it wasn't until she'd circled the same three buildings five times each that she realized that she was just walking around the same street. She sighed and looked around for something familiar, something that was near the main street that she recognized…

And there it stood, right in front of her.

The pawn shop that she'd stumbled over last week. The one that that lady had given fortunes and those pretty necklaces. Maybe those nice ladies knew how to get to the main road…

And before she could stop herself, she burst through the door, the chimes ringing.

She observed the store, which was full of people buying, selling, and pricing. Eleanor eyed the front desk, hoping to catch the nice lady that had helped her…

"May I help you?"

Eleanor spun around. It was that younger Chinese lady that nearly kicked them out of the store last time.

"Oh, it's just you again," she said in that nonchalant tone, waving her off. "I see you're alone this time. Did you get lost on the way to your little clubs in town?"

Her sarcastic tone was starting to make Eleanor uncomfortable. Where was the nice, older woman? "I…uh…"

"Are you messing with those teenagers again?"

Eleanor sighed with relief as she saw the short, elderly woman cross over to her, a welcoming smile on her face. Her smile widened with recognization. "Ah, I remember you. Welcome back. Have your and your sisters' fortunes come true yet?"

Eleanor's hand flew to her neck, where the pendant still hung. "Not yet. Actually, I had come inside to ask you something…"

"Let me guess," the woman said, "You are lost, correct? You need directions back to the street, right?"

Eleanor beamed incredulously. "R-right. How'd you know?"

She smiled, the wrinkles around her eyes crinkling softly. "Lucky guess. Well, come, come. Make yourself comfortable."

* * *

"One-two! Three-four! Five-six! Seh-vun-eight!"

Brittany tried as hard as she could to keep up with the cheers, her hands and feet moving automatically, her ponytail whipping around her head. The beats pumping through her, she added an extra sass to her sashays and a little bump in her hip shakes, hoping that the seniors would notice. If this didn't forgive making a complete fool of her herself (and nearly burning down the gym), then she'd might as well just tattoo the word LOSER on her forehead as of tomorrow.

Luckily, she didn't have to suffer any longer, because one of the blonde seniors announced, "Okay, everyone, let's take a break, and then we can keep going from there."

Everyone scattered into different groups, chattering about different subjects in school and how nervous they were. Brittany sat alone, opting to scope out the competitors. Taking slow sips of her water, she noted how one frizzy-haired blonde kept misstepping; a bigmouthed brunette had the voice of a bullhorn, and had kept stepping on people's feet during the whole routine. One tall redhead with huge green eyes kept on picking at her ratty cuticles and frazzled mess of hair, and a tiny, tittering girl with short, bluish-black hair kept surveying the room in a mousy way, obviously wishing that she wasn't here at all.

Brittany rolled her eyes and took a triumphant gulp of her water. If this was her competition, then why did she still have a still have a huge knot in her stomach, as if something big was going to go down soon?

She tried to make eye contact with Muffy but all she did was give her a blank look from her group of friends. For a second, she could've sworn that she saw anger flick across her face, but the look was gone as quickly as it had come. Brittany blinked as she turned around, wondering what her deal was. _Actually,_ she thought, eyeing her friend, _she's been like that for the past few days. What's up with her?_

Muffy had ignored Brittany's calls for a few days, pointedly walked past her in the halls, and didn't even save her a spot on the bench when she came late to the tryouts. She'd also had this sort of dazed look on her face, as if someone had sucked out her soul or something. She also had this habit of not talking, like she was someone foreign that didn't know what was going on. But the weirdest part of all was whenever Brittany was around, she noticeably had this way of ogling her, as if she were some kind of science experiment, and having a look on her face that wanted to strangle her or something. But then, just as startling as it came, it went, and she went back to being Zombie Muffy again. It was way too weird.

"Okay, girls, let's start up again in formation!" the perky blond senior chirped, clapping her hand together.

Muffy glared at Brittany as she stood up, her eyes radiating hatred and glowing…

Red?

Brittany thought this to be a little weird, very used to seeing her friend's blue-green orbs. _Okay, as soon as we're done, I'm gonna have to have a little talk with her…_

* * *

Eleanor was led to a windowless back room, where more golden antiques hung from the walls and the lights were dim, the only light coming from the small kerosene lamp in the center of a small table. Red dragons were painted on the mustard-yellow walls, and the soft scent of lavender wafted in the dense air.

"Tea?" The woman gestured her small hand to a delicate tea set on the table, which was surrounded by various snacks.

Eleanor brightened. "Sure, thanks!" she giddily sank into the rich, velvet cushion on the ground, folding her legs underneath her, and eagerly helped herself to the cookies on the plate, popping one after another into her mouth and savoring every bite.

The old woman looked at her bemusedly, pouring tea into Eleanor's cup and then her own. "You have quite an appetite, don't you? I'm glad that you enjoy them. I made them myself. Have as much as you want."

Eleanor suddenly felt self-conscious, swallowing the wad of food in her mouth to speak. "Don't you want some, Mrs.…?"

"Cheng," she finished for Eleanor, "and no, thank you. Tea is just fine. Besides, I'm too old for cookies now."

Eleanor smiled politely. She really was a nice person.

They sat in silence for a while before Eleanor forced herself to break the pause. "Hey, how did you know what I was thinking when I came in?"

Mrs. Cheng smiled. "I can read your face. You seemed lost even when you wandered into this little neighborhood."

"You knew I was coming, too? How?"

"I just knew. That's all there is to it."

"Well, yeah, but how did you—"

"Silence, little one." She smiled a wise smile. "Curiosity killed the cat."

This plunged them back into a peaceful silence, but Eleanor was on edge. Was this woman a psychic or mind reader or something? She sank lower in her chair, eyes wandering to the little old woman sitting in the chair across from her, looking strangely regal and formal even in the small, cramped setting.

Eleanor decided to sit back and relax. What was she so worried about? This was a strange but kind person who invited her to tea and made her feel comfortable. She seemed so trustworthy. Maybe Eleanor should just try to relax her mind and focus on more important things, like the delicious platter of chocolate cookies in front of her. As she reached for another one, though, Mrs. Cheng said something that made her hair stand on edge:

"So, how was your detention with that teacher of yours, er, Mrs. Collins?"

* * *

"Okay, everyone, don't forget to check the lists for the final cut. For those of you that make it, we'll see you on Monday."

Brittany slung her backpack over her shoulder and began to follow the others out the door. She spied Muffy on the wall, watching her with cold, stony eyes, and shivered. What was up with her? Had she done something wrong?

Brittany inhaled deeply, not knowing why she was so anxious; Muffy was a good friend, after all. It seemed after a few days, she didn't trust her at all.

Turning towards the exit, trying to put the event off for tomorrow, a strange voice shouted at her from across the room, "You there! Halt!"

Brittany turned slowly and jumped to find Muffy standing right behind her.

"God, Muffy! You scared the heck outta me," Brittany said, smoothing her already perfect ponytail and trying to catch her breath.

"We need to talk," her friend said flatly, her voice strangely echoing and void of emotion.

"Well, yeah," Brittany said, shying away from her nervously. "What's been up with you lately? You've been ignoring me in the halls, you never answer my phone calls, and how come your eyes glow that creepy red?"

Her red eyes flashed angrily. "I have been placed under a lot of stress from my superiors," she muttered.

"And that's another thing: why are you talking like that? You voice does this weird echo-y thingy, and it's creeping me out."

Muffy's jaw tightened. "It is not wise to ask questions such as those. It can get you hurt. Very easily."

Brittany narrowed her eyes. "Are you on some new kind of steroids or something?"

"Enough of your insipid babbling!"

Before Brittany knew it, she was pinned to the bleachers forcefully, her friend's eyes gleaming a bloody red. Her grip was tight on Brittany's wrists, and her voice was laced with angry venom when she spat, "Tell me about the Gems this very instant, or someone is going to have a very unfortunate accident!"

Eleanor froze. "What do you know about our teacher?"

Mrs. Cheng smiled, calmly sipping her green tea. "I've known for a while that she's been a bit off now."

Eleanor pulled her hand back, alarmed.

"I also knew about the dreams you and your sisters have been having lately."

Eleanor started to slink away, fear rising in her throat. "H-have you been stalking us or something? Wh-who do you think you are?"

Mrs. Cheng's face became straight and serious. "Eleanor, please—"

"How-how do you know my name?" Eleanor asked.

"If you would just let me explain—"

"You know what?" Eleanor stood and picked up her bag, her beating a mile a minute. "Maybe I should just let you keep working. I must be hearing things."

"But—"

Eleanor backed away to the door, feeling for the knob behind her frantically. "You're really nice, but I really should go now. My, er, mother is probably waiting for me back at home right about now—"

"I know what happened to your real mother."

* * *

Brittany struggled against Muffy's grip, feeling her blood run cold through her fingertips as she lost circulation in them. "I…have no idea…what the hell…you're talking about…"

This new Muffy growled, an angry, animalistic sound, and took one hand off her arm to wrap it around her slender neck. "You have vexed the Kingdom for the last time, little girl. Prepare to pay for your mistakes."

With a swift movement of her hand, she picked up Brittany by her neck and threw her across the room, her body slamming against the hard concrete wall and knocking down the humongous American flag that hung there.

As Muffy slowly approached, Brittany whimpered, gritting her teeth against the aching in her body. This can't be the same ugly thing that had invaded their teacher's body…could it?

Brittany looked up into the girl's blood-red eyes, hoping that she could see what was wrong, what was attacking her so roughly…

The air suddenly became colder, and she could feel some kind of strange aura emitting from her best friend, and starting to come from under the ground as well. What was this weird feeling that she had? Was it because she was about to die? Or was it because she was about to have one of those life flashes that people said was going to happen before you died?

No, she figured. It was much stronger than just a blast from the past.

She could feel the presence of evil beginning to rise from the ground.

As soon as Muffy curled her hands and summoned the spirits, the ground quivered underneath Brittany's body. It was subtle at first, but it soon rose to the mass of an earthquake that would have broken the Richter scale. Dry, cracked roots broke the polished wooden floorboards in half, branches from nearby trees smashed through the glass windows, and the ground itself ripped in half, flames of purple spitting out of the dark abyss.

And if that wasn't enough, Muffy was instantly surrounded by the cheerleaders, all of which had the same aggressive red glow in their eyes, their sharpened nails ready to tear Brittany's flesh apart at the command of their leader.

Muffy's bony hand pointed to her, practically mouthing the magic words: _Get her._

Brittany widened her eyes, only one thought coming to mind: _Oh, crap._

* * *

The blood drained from Eleanor's face. Her whole body was frozen to numbness as she practically whispered, "You…you don't know anything about my mother…"

Mrs. Cheng nodded grimly. "I knew her all too well, little one."

"You don't know anything about my mother!" Eleanor nearly yelled, tears welling in her eyes. She turned and started to sob quietly, whispering, "I don't even know what she looked like…"

Mrs. Cheng stood, putting the small teacup back on the table, and put a small, bony hand on her shoulder. "I know, Eleanor. I know. It'll be all right."

Eleanor turned slowly to face her, blinking softly. If this woman really knew about her… "Did…did you really know her?"

Mrs. Cheng stared at her for a while before slowly nodding. "I…I did. I…knew her very well." Her voice caught, and Eleanor thought that, in the dim light of that room, that the woman was going to cry.

Eleanor turned fully around now, wiping her face with the sleeve of her bluish-black blazer. "What…what did you know about her?"

Mrs. Cheng's face became stoic and grim, as if she had never shown any weakness. "I…I can't tell you."

Eleanor's hazel eyes widened in anger. "Are you _serious_? What was the point of setting me up—"

"I can't tell you because it's not time yet," Mrs. Cheng said flatly, stopping her. She paused hesitantly. "The timing's not right. When the stars align on the day that darkness blocks light, then I can tell you." She took a deep breath. "I'll tell you _everything_." She seemed to elongate the word.

Eleanor carefully nodded. "Oh…okay. When should I come back, then?"

Mrs. Cheng smiled, looking more like herself again. "You're a smart girl. You'll figure it out. But for now…" Mrs. Cheng pulled something out of her dress. It was a shiny little green rod. "Take this. You'll need it."

Eleanor took the small wand, bewildered. "What does this do?"

"You'll find out soon enough, young one," she answered. "Oh, and if I'm not mistaken, you should be going. Your sister needs you at school."

Eleanor stared at her strangely. "Uh, how did you—"

"Just trust me," Mrs. Cheng said, half-shooing, half-pushing her out the door. "I believe she's going to need all the help she can get."

* * *

As Evil Muffy commanded her corrupted cohorts to attack, the first thing Brittany thought was, _This is a dream. This has to be a dream; I should just blink my eyes and I'll be safe and sound in my room._

Brittany blinked once. The burning, ominous red eyes burned holes into her head.

She blinked twice. The girls growled threateningly, taking slow steps forward.

With a small whimper, she closed them a third time, whispering frantically, "I wish they were gone, I wish they were gone. Please wake up, Britt. This is a dream. This is all just a dream..."

_This isn't a dream, Brittany._

Brittany gasped, her eyes popping open…just in time to see one of the seniors swipe at her with a sharpened branch. Brittany narrowly missed the sharp point, jumping back towards the wall with a squeal. When another snapped at her with her talons, she crawled around her spastically, running towards the entrances.

"Oh, no you don't," Evil Muffy's voice echoed through the gym, her hand curling out.

The doors sealed shut, the purplish flames blazing in front of them.

Brittany dashed toward the emergency exits in the back of the gym, hoping that they were unlocked and she could set herself free of this living nightmare. But as soon as she touched the metal handle, a bolt of electricity shot out of it, sending her flying backwards. When they approached, she staggered toward the wall, her heart hammering hard.

Evil Muffy chuckled grimly, standing in front of the weakened Chipette. Her minions laughed along. "I'm afraid I overestimated you. You have no power, no skills. You're just as pathetic as the other humans around here."

Brittany tried to get up, opened her chapped lips to retort, but her former friend shoved her sneaker hard into her stomach, sending her back down.

"And I'd thought you were just the person we were looking for." Evil Muffy shook her head sadly, as if she were disappointed at the pain she was in. With a careless shrug, she turned to one of the cheerleaders—the brunette that had her nearly disqualified a couple of weeks ago—and ordered, "Make sure she doesn't get out alive. We don't want anyone knowing this secret."

The brunette nodded mechanically, sneering as she held up her branch-spear, ready to disembowel her at the perfect moment. The others growled impatiently, their perfect faces marred by sneers, permanent wrinkles, and vicious, teeth-bearing frowns.

It was as if they were all animals that had escaped from the zoo, prepared to kill.

Muffy snapped her fingers and stepped back to watch the show.

Brittany gripped the wall protectively, as if it could shield her face from being mauled. She wanted to close her eyes and wish them away, but she knew that it wasn't a dream. If she closed her eyes, she could feel the killing; if she kept them open, she would get a last glimpse of her malicious attack before she died.

Either way, it was a lose-lose situation that she couldn't afford to lose.

Brittany prepared to curl into a fetal ball, wanting to get her slow and painful death over with.

_Don't give up, Brittany…_

Brittany's body jerked. It was that creepy voice from before, the one that told her that this dream was a total nightmare. _Who…who are you? What do you want? Why are you in my head?_ she thought timidly.

The gentle voice responded calmly: _I am your Inner Voice, Brittany. I've come here to steer you in the right direction, from all of this._

Brittany focused on the zombie-like girls, still charging at her, and a bolt of fear sliced through her. They'd be there to chew her out in a second. _Well, can you kind of steer faster? I'm about to get my insides ripped out here. So, if you're some kind of magical entity or whatever that can poof me outta here, I'd really appreciate it._

The voice laughed a soft chuckle that sounded like chimes. _I can only give you advice: Look above you._

Brittany looked up and noticed the school's emblem, a knight's shield and two swords crisscrossed underneath. _Yeah, it's our stupid emblem. So what?_

It felt like the voice was rolling its eyes in a knowing way at her.

Brittany's mind clicked. _Ohhhhhhhhh…_

_Now, on my command, retrieve the sword and shield as fast as you can._

Brittany's body coiled, ready to spring. _Wait, why on _your _command—_

_One…_

The inhuman girls were getting closer, their fangs and talons ready to dig in.

_Two…_

Evil Muffy's mouth curled into a smile, everything going accordingly to plan.

_Three…_

Brittany gulped as they got dangerously close, trying to trust the strangely comforting voice in her head and praying that she lived to see herself make the squad.

_NOW!_

Brittany grabbed the nearest cheerleader's head and pulled her hair, stepping lightly on the back of her head. She bobbed onto the different heads, ignoring the complaints, while trying to reach the shield and sword. The demonic girls swiped at her feet, sharp nails tearing her new sneakers. Brittany reached as far as her hand could go; her fingertips touching the cool metal of the sword handle…

And then she felt a searing pain in her right ankle.

She jumped, hanging onto the shield for dear life. The red-eyed girls growled angrily, pawing at her feet like wild animals, wanting to crush her.

Muffy, who sat high up in the bleachers, smiled her amused smile, her red eyes shining.

Brittany tried to pull herself up, desperately trying not to fall to her death. She felt the swords start to give from the wall, the fasteners creaking under her weight. She let out a nervous squeak, her heart accelerating.

The demons seemed to rile up even more, swiping impatiently and growling even louder.

Brittany squeezed her eyes shut, the pain in her ankle blazing. Suddenly, anger welled up inside of her. First that weird fire thing at the tryouts, then her house nearly blowing up, and now she was about to die by her former ex-best friend sending cannibalistic cheerleaders after her.

Yep. That was the cherry on top of a good month.

A glowing orange ball of light floated in front of her. _Brittany…_

_It's that voice!_ she gasped, opening her eyes…and not believing what she was seeing in front of her.

The orange ball materialized in front of her, forming a face in its sunset-colored flames. The flames still blurred around it, but Brittany could make out a heart-shaped face, with big eyes and flowing red hair, and a small pinkish nose.

The vision looked just like her.

_Don't give up yet,_ Brittany, the face mouthed. _You have too much to live for. _We_ have too much to live for._

_What do you mean—?_

_Silence,_ the voice cut off. _Just trust me, Brittany. I'm your friend. I'm your conscience. I'm…I'm _you_._

Brittany stared at the weird floating head, her thoughts running a mile a minute. She opened her mouth, wanting answers, but the vision continued: _Brittany, just trust me. Everything will be clear. Just trust me _now_._

Brittany reluctantly nodded, not sure what she was getting into, when the shield started to peel off the wall. Brittany shrieked, lifting her legs to prevent any other sharp protests from the girls, and shrieked again when she caught a glimpse of her ankle wound. It was a deep, puncturing wound, tearing through her skin and muscle, leaking blood to the hungry demonic creatures that lapped it up below.

When she shifted her weight, the emblem moaned, the bolts cracking from the brick wall.

Brittany bit her lip hard. She really hoped that the fall wouldn't smash her pretty face in…

With a final give, the emblem came crashing down.

Brittany was immediately surrounded by a rush of warm air, and the whole gymnasium was surrounded by a bright light, blinding the possessed souls and their leader. When the light died down, Brittany was on her feet, shield in hand, and pointing a sword threateningly at the cheerleaders, orange flames encasing the silver blade.

"You freaks want a piece of me? Well, come and get it."

Muffy raised an eyebrow. "Well, this shall be quite interesting."

The cheerleaders growled, lunging at her.

Frightened, Brittany instinctively jumped back, shrieking as the flaming sword nearly charred her face.

_Don't be afraid of the element. Embrace it,_ the voice guided, the warm air protectively surrounding her. The demons hissed, stepping away.

Brittany nodded to herself, taking a deep breath.

The first demon that got near her was immediately sliced in half by the blade and disintegrated into dust. This made the others attack her, and the more they poured into her personal space, the more heads, arms, legs and torsos met her flaming blade. The sword made swishing ad clanking sounds as talons met the sword, and there were low hisses before the orange flames burned them into black powder.

The more she slashed these evil creatures, though, the easier it was to fight. Adrenaline pumping through her, and she was hyperaware of her surroundings. Once she would slice one creature and it turned to dust, she could sense another one behind her, talons ready to tear her throat.

After finishing off the last of them, she stood defiantly, her flaming sword pointed at her friend.

Evil Muffy raised an eyebrow, leaping off of the bleachers and staring at Brittany intensely. "Impressive skills. Maybe I underestimated you."

"If you don't tell me what is going on _right now_, I swear I will go up there and chop you into little bitty pieces," she threatened.

Evil Muffy laughed an obnoxious sound that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "I believe your power is so much more than just dicing me with your scary sword."

Why was she so amused at this? "Fine. You asked for this."

Brittany ran across the gym, her sword in front of her, when she suddenly bounded off of an invisible dome-like surface, and landed very closely to the dark abyss, her head pounding.

Muffy stood over her, her foot shoved into her gut. "Do you think you can defeat us? You don't even have a clue as to who you're dealing with. We've been fighting for thousands of years, and you are just too naïve to se it."  
"Get off me," Brittany hissed, trying to pry the foot off her stomach. "And for the record, I have no idea what you're talking about. We've been friends for years. Why would I want to hurt you?"

"Silence!" Muffy said, red eyes glowing, and pointing the other long-bladed sword from the emblem this one covered in deep blue and purple flames. "Join me, and our race for universal domination, or you die with the rest of those unworthy humans."

The voice in Brittany's head was gone, but she knew that it wouldn't want her to be influenced like that. She responded:

"I will _never_ join you."

Muffy growled, baring her teeth at her. "You will pay for you insolence!" She brought her sword down; about to slice through her heart, but Brittany parried it with her orange sword. As she got up, the two swords met with a _chink!_

The swordfight went on, the two swords constantly clanging together. Sparks of hatred flew from the sword, and orange flames mixed with purple to create a spectrum of light. When Muffy swung her sword at Brittany's neck, she ducked, the shield protecting her, and aimed for her stomach. Muffy blocked the attack with her sword, sending more sparks.

Brittany managed to disarm Muffy with her sword, pointing it at her chest.

Muffy smiled. "Maybe you do have the Affinity I'm looking for after all. If only I could figure out where all that power is coming from…"

"Maybe you should leave before this Affinity thingy brings permanent damage to your face!"

Muffy stepped back, her whole body radiating that deep negative purple entity surrounding her. "Fine, I'll go. But when the time comes, we find those Gems, and when the Deltas rule your pathetic little planet, you'll be gravelling at our feet. Just wait and see. Oh, you just wait and see, Gem…"

A flash of lightning struck outside, darkening the gym for only a second…

But suddenly, she was gone.

Brittany blinked, the sword, still covered in burning flames, in her hand. _What just happened?_

Brittany noticed that the sky was clear and bright, with the peachy orange and bubblegum pinks of sunset outside, not thundering and lightning outside like she'd just imagined. She also swiveled her head to find that the gymnasium was no longer the battleground from hell. The angry cheerleaders' dusty remains were nonexistent; the dents in the walls where Brittany was tossed around like a beanbag were fixed; the bottomless abyss that spit out a purple bonfire was closed, not even a scratch in the gleaming, waxed floors.

Brittany stared at her surroundings once, twice, even three times before uttering an intelligent "Huhhhh?"

A gust of comfortable heat swirled around Brittany. _You did well, Brittany._

"There you are again!" Brittany thought aloud, swiveling, expecting that same fiery head to appear in front of her. "Who are you?"

_I cannot explain now,_ the voice said softly in her head. it was so calming and soothing, like a mother's voice.

"Who…who are you?" Brittany repeated, her voice decreasing to a soft murmur.

_Once again, I cannot tell you. Everything will be clear when you learn to use your powers._

Brittany bristled. How did this…spirit, or whatever it was, know about her run-in with fire?

As if sensing her hesitance, the voice said reassuringly, _Someone will tell you everything. You have to trust her…and me._

"But, what's this all about?"

_Once again, that's information you'll find out later. Until then, this will protect you from any future attacks. If you lose it, it will always come back. the voice hesitated. I know that this will be hard on you, but you have to trust your instincts and fight for your life. Do you understand? This is very important._

Brittany paused to let the information sink in, but nodded.

_Good. I'll be seeing you soon, Brittany. Very soon._

"But, wait—what do you mean by all of this? I'm not supposed to fight those things on my own, right? _Right?_"

Suddenly, Eleanor burst through the door, huffing and puffing. "I've…been looking…for you…everywhere… Where…have…you been…?"

Brittany gave her a confused look. "Um…right here?"

Eleanor nodded, still trying to catch her breath. She looked around, confusion filling her flushed face. "Huh. You don't _look_ like you're in any danger."

Brittany rolled her eyes outwardly, but her heart skipped a beat. Did she know, too? "Like I'm any danger. I've been practicing in here all day. Duh."

Eleanor narrowed her eyes. "Oh. Well, then, I guess we should walk home together, then."

"Hey, where have you been all day today?"

Eleanor's face brightened a shade of red. "Oh, nowhere. Just hanging around, that's all."

"Oh. Okay, then."

"Okay."

"_Okay._ Let's just get out of here. This school still creeps me out after hours."

As Eleanor and Brittany walked out of the gym, something on the wall caught her eye. The school's emblem was mounted proudly, two swords crisscrossed behind a green and black shield. Brittany squinted, noticing something out of place.

There was that pretty red rod that she'd seen in her binder, all sparkly and pristine.

She jumped, reaching up and grabbing the small object. Brittany stared at it in her hand, questioning its role in her universe, when she heard Eleanor say, "Hey, Britt, you coming?"

Brittany looked up for a second. "Y-yeah, I'm coming."

Eleanor nodded and walked ahead, holding the door open for her sister.

Brittany looked around the gym for a final time, willing the voice to come back to her, to give her answers to her questions and explain who she was.

But all she got was utter silence.

**Writer's block sucks. :(**

**Especially when you've had it for 9 months (not to mention wrapping up school w/exams & being in summer school ever since school was out). Now, school is coming up on me yet again, and I meant to finish this story months ago.**

**Did I mention writer's block sucks?**

**Well, I'll keep banging my head on my keyboard until my brain comes up with something intelligent. For now, keep reviewing-and supporting the story! It gets better, promise!**

**(Have I promised that already? Ugh! Stupid frozen brain. *pulls out brain-stimulating strawberry Pocky and enjoys* YAY POCKY! ^.^)**


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